Communication, Commitment & Trust: Exploring the Triad

Abstract

Despite growing interest on the issues of communication, trust and commitment, studies examining the interplay between all of these three variables are lacking. This paper attempts to address this gap. It draws on survey data involving 244 employees from a medium-size food processing organization operating in NSW (Australia). The study explored relationships between communication, trust and commitment. Trust was measured by a six-items composite scale assessing overall beliefs in good intentions of organization participants as well as the degree of faith/trust in various actors in the organization, including co-workers and managers at various levels of the hierarchy. Correlation analysis revealed that perceived effectiveness of communication between management and employees, commitment & pride in working for the company and trust were significantly interrelated. However, the relationship between Trust and Communication was the strongest, with commitment also showing a significant relation to Trust. On the other hand, the relationship between commitment and communication was relatively weaker. The results demonstrate the importance of effective communication within organizations as it relates to trust and organizational commitment. In particular, the study shows that trust and commitment do not just happen; they are forged and maintained through effective communication. Implications for management practice and future research are discussed. Keywords: Trust, Communication effectiveness, Organizational commitment, LoyaltyThis paper explores the relative impact of communication effectiveness, job satisfaction and participation on trust climate, including trust in managers. It draws on survey data involving 244 employees from a medium-size food processing organization operating in NSW (Australia). The study explored factors that are most likely to affect trust climate. Trust climate was measured by a six-items composite scale assessing overall beliefs in good intentions of organization participants as well as the degree of faith/trust in various actors in the organization, including co-workers and managers at various levels of the hierarchy. Regression analysis revealed that perceived effectiveness of communication between management and employees and commitment & pride in working for the company were overwhelmingly the most influential factors affecting the likelihood of trust

Formation of organisational knowledge in Ukrainian enterprises on the basis of internal communications

“…In its turn, trust is closely connected with effective internal communications, as demonstrated by the works of Allert and Chatterjee (1997), Ruppel and Harrington (2000) and Zeffane (2011). Motivation as a factor infl uencing knowledge sharing is recognised by such authors as Bukowitz and Williams (2000), Kalla (2005), Wang and Noe (2010), Kirilkina (2011).…”

Zaangażowanie pracowników w doskonalenie przedsiębiorstw – bezpośrednia partycypacja pracownicza

“…na etapie analizy sytuacji problemowej. W tym kontekście ważne jest nie tylko umożliwienie pracownikom partycypowania w procesach decyzyjnych, lecz także zmotywowanie ich do dzielenia się wiedzą [Zeffane, Tipu, Ryan 2011]. Partycypacja pracownicza, zaspokajając potrzeby wyższego rzędu, tj.…”

The ‘Realness’ Discourse of a Political Leader: A Komunikasi Berasa Perspective

“…This is because communi-cation has a triadic relation with commitment and trust (Zeffane et al, 2011). A communication that is able to build hope and a good first impression also gives positive influence in shaping public attitudes toward the presidential candidates (Holbrook et al, 2001).…”

“…Sensed-message then gives an impact or effect, as well as communication result in the form of trustworthiness and meaningfulness to the meaning of the delivered message. Trustworthiness and meaningfulness can create commitment (Zeffane et al, 2011) and encourage the audience to take action as per agenda, motive and source strategy, such as choosing candidates or recommended products (Wijaya, 2011b). Besides that, trustworthiness and meaningfulness of the message can also encourage the audience to voluntarily share or advocate (Smith & Wheeler, 2002) the delivered message, from the source to other audiences, and, surely evokes love felt by audience for a long term.…”