the relationship between organizational trust and job satisfaction: an analysis in the u.s. federal...
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
1/56
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
2/56
The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction:An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
by
Phuong L. Callaway
DISSERTATION.COM
Boca Raton
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
3/56
The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction:An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
Copyright 2006 Phuong L. Callaway
All rights reserved.
Dissertation.com
Boca Raton, FloridaUSA 2007
ISBN: 1-58112- 352-3
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
4/56
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST AND JOB SATISFACTION:
AN ANALYSIS IN THE U.S. FEDERAL WORK FORCE
by
Phuong L. Callaway
A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Capella University
October 2006
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
5/56
Abstract
The issues of trust and job satisfaction have taken on a greater strategic importance in
organizations since the post-Enron scandal. Without trust or the lack of it among
organizational members and between management and employees, organizational
communication, knowledge management, organizational performance, and involvement may
tend to close down. Trust has been identified as a crucial ingredient for organizational
effectiveness. A linkage between trust and job satisfaction in private organizations has been
established by researchers; however, in the U.S. federal government, the linkage between
organizational trust and job satisfaction has not yet been studied. This study, therefore,
explores the relationship between organizational trust and job satisfaction in seven selected
small, medium, and large U.S. federal agencies. This study indicated that there are no
significant differences between males and females, however, significant differences in
attitudes between supervisors and nonsupervisors were found regarding what good
communications meant and how they interpret the question, top management truly listens to
employees concerns. Nonsupervisors tend to disagree more frequently than supervisors.
The study also found that there are significant association between gender, age group, job
location, position, and occupation and agency. The differences in attitudes between
supervisors and nonsupervisors about what would make communications seem good and
what would contribute to the belief that top management listens to employees concerns lead
to the conclusion that there is a disconnection among organizational members and among
management and employees. This disconnection may lead to mistrust, job dissatisfaction and
the difficulty in attracting and retention of human talents.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
6/56
iii
Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to dear friends, Lt. General John E. Jackson, Jr., U.S.
Air Force (retired) and President, Fork Union Military Academy of Fork Union, Virginia,
and his wife, Barbara Quisenberry Jackson. For decades, you both have consistently
dedicated and committed in uplifting the lives of many individuals whose sufferings were
unimaginable and in building on the principles of transformational leadership, self-discipline,
personal accountability and responsibility in younger generations. Your love for the country,
for the community, and for building healthy and strong generations to come through your
academic and social engagement, and your religious faith are inspiring. I too put my trust and
faith in the Lord and was not disappointed. You have inspired the value of focus and self-
discipline in me. Although I experienced a brief manmade barrier as I conducted the field test
of the research methodology for my dissertation paper, I succeeded to a fruitful completion. I
love you and am very proud of you both. I know both of you are very happy to see me
complete the doctoral journey.
To my parents, who always reached out and helped many unfortunate families due to
social and economic inequities in my native homeland, the Republic of Vietnam; to my Mom
(deceased), who always strongly believed in ones hard work to enhance the quality of
personal life and who always strongly believed in a strong and healthy community and
society; to my grandparents (deceased), who contributed much of the land, which their
parents and grandparents had owned in the South Vietnam, to the different regimes of the
Republic of Vietnam Government for the welfare of the South Vietnamese people; to my
oldest uncle (deceased), who was owner and editor-in-chief of a Republic of Vietnams daily
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
7/56
iv
newspaper and Saigon City Council Member, I send him my utmost respect and salute him
for his personal integrity; to other living family members and relatives, I thought about you
and wish you the best as you continue to lead your families and contribute to this new
homeland. Finally, to my children and their families, this dissertation is for them for
enhancing their knowledge in the field of management and leadership. Strong and healthy
organizations and society begin with leadership.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
8/56
v
Acknowledgments
A special expression of appreciation must be extended to my husband, who was
always devoted to unconditional love, supportive and patient. Special thanks must also be
extended to those who contributed and participated in the study; without them, this study
would not have been possible.
Much credit for this dissertation belongs to Dr. Robert W. Rowden, my dissertation
committee chair and mentor. I must single out his guidance and patience in teaching me the
differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods, providing continual
advice, support, and encouragement, and critically assessing my strengths as well as
weaknesses in writing a dissertation. The strength of the quality of an academic mentor-
mentee relationship was a powerful force that led to the successful completion of the
dissertation paper.
I must also acknowledge my other dissertation committee members, Dr. Robert J.
Hockin and Dr. Donna DiMatteo, for their unflagging support of my research topic and for
providing continual input and feedback for the development of the dissertation.
I want to thank you Dr. Mary Dereshiwsky for her guidance and comments during the
completion of my course paper for her advanced qualitative research course. The final paper
grew to become this doctoral research.
I also want to give much academic credit to my doctoral comprehensive committee,
Dr. Rowden, Dr. Hockin, and Dr. von Ber for sustaining my oral communication skills
during the comprehensives oral defense, which helped in sharpening my focus for the
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
9/56
vi
literature review, the conception, and the planning of the research methodology for this
dissertation.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
10/56
vii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
List of Tables x
List of Figures xii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1
Introduction to the Problem 1
Background of the Study 3
Statement of the Problem 6
Research Questions 10
Significance of the Study 10
Definition of Terms 12
Assumptions 14
Scope and Limitations 14
Theoretical Framework 15
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 23
Introduction 23
Organizational Trust 23
Organizational Performance 29
Job Satisfaction 31
Employee Empowerment 37
Dimensions of Organizational Trust 38
Dimensions of Job Satisfaction 40
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
11/56
viii
Low Trust and High Trust Organizations 42
High Performance and Traditional Hierarchical Organizations 43
Empowerment in High Performance Organizations 46
The Leadership Impact 48
Definition of Terms 49
Leadership Theories and Models 50
Leadership Practices and Challenges 55
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 61
Introduction 61
Quantitative Research Method 62
Research Questions 66
Population for the Study 66
Design of the Study 67
Data Collection Strategy 70
Data Analysis 71
Alternate Method of Data Analysis 72
Summary 75
CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 78
Introduction 78
Data Description 78
Categorical Analysis 87
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
12/56
ix
Data Analysis 87
Summary 105
CHAPTER 5. FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 108
Introduction 108
Findings and Discussions 112
Literature Review, Findings, and Analysis 114
Discussion 120
Limitations of the Study 124
Implications for Further Research 128
Recommendations 130
Conclusions 135
REFERENCES 139
APPENDIX A. ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST AND JOB SATISFACTION
SURVEY 150
APPENDIX B. BALANCED SCORE CARD LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK IN
THE WAR ON TALENTS 157
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
13/56
x
List of Tables
Table 1. Traditional Government Versus High Performance GovernmentOrganizational Characteristics 45
Table 2. Leader-Member Exchange Theory-Impact 54
Table 3. Frequency and Survey Response Rate 79
Table 4a. Demography of Responders 80
Table 4b. Demography of Responders 81
Table 5. Cross-Tabulate for Gender and Agency 82
Table 6. Cross-Tabulate for Position and Agency 83
Table 7. Cross-Tabulate for Job Location and Agency 84
Table 8. Cross-Tabulate for Age Group and Agency 85
Table 9. Cross-Tabulate for Occupation and Agency 86
Table 10. Level of Satisfaction Regarding Supervision 89
Table 11. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 57: I like my immediatesupervisor 90
Table 12. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 57: I like my immediatesupervisor 91
Table 13. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 60: I am satisfied with mychances for promotion 92
Table 14. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 60: I am satisfied with my
chances for promotion 93
Table 15. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 36: Communications seem
good within this organization 95
Table 16. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 36: Communications seem
good within this organization 96
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
14/56
xi
Table 17. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 28: I feel I am being paid a fair
amount for the work I do 97
Table 18. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 28: I feel I am being paid a
fair amount for the work I do 98
Table 19. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 43: I find I have to work
harder at my job than I should because of the incompetence of people I
work with 100
Table 20. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 43: I find I have to work
harder at my job than I should because of the incompetence of people I
work with 101
Table 21. Gender*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 15: Top management listens
to employees concerns 103
Table 22. Position*Scale Cross-Tabulate for Question 15: Top management listens
to employees concerns 104
Table 23. Association for Gender, Position, and Scale 107
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
15/56
xii
List of Figures
Figure 1. Organizational trust, job satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness. 40
Figure 2. Dimensions of job satisfaction. 41
Figure 3. SLT modelLevels of employees readiness. 53
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
16/56
1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Introduction to the Problem
The issues of trust and job satisfaction have taken on a greater strategic importance in
organizations since the post-Enron scandal. Global economy, workplace diversity, workforce
downsizing, virtual organizations, advanced information technologies, decentralized
decision-making, and competitive outsourcing of jobs may require organizations to manage
human capital differently than they have managed in the past. Organizations with higher
level of mutual trust among organizational members and between management and
employees may be able to maintain and sustain human talents in order to achieve business
competitiveness.
Trust has been linked to overall employee job satisfaction and perceived
organizational effectiveness (Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Winograd, 2000). Unfortunately,
trust in companies has never been lower in the post-Enron organizational scandal (Watson,
2005). Trust facilitates individual and organizational learning; however, organizations often
take it for granted, misunderstand or ignore (Adams, 2004).
Trust has been identified as a critical ingredient to enhance organizational
effectiveness and competitive advantage in the competition for human talents, job
satisfaction, and the long-term stability and well being of organizational members (Cook &
Wall, 1980; Huff & Kelley, 2003; Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Winograd, 2000; Spence
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
17/56
2
Laschinger, Finegan, & Shamian, 2001). Trust was shown to significantly influence
interpersonal relationships in organizations; however, despite the recognized importance of
trust, the trust gap between managers and employees was steadily increasing (Jeanquart-
Barone, 1993).
In addition to trust, organizations should be concerned about job satisfaction, which
can be considered an indicator of organizational members emotional well-being and
psychological health (Rowden, 2002). Researchers found that job satisfaction is influenced
by the level of pay and performance, employee benefits, training, recruiting, learning curve
inefficiencies, reduction in the client base, job design, life satisfaction, autonomy, growth
satisfaction, satisfaction with coworkers, satisfaction with supervisors, and customer
satisfaction (Comm & Mathaisel, 2000).
Organizations that see the value of their employees create a culture of mutual trust
among organizational members and between management and employees. These
organizations are known as high performance organizations (Phillips, 1997). Trust inside
organizations directly affects profits, innovation, and organizational effectiveness (Lynch,
2001); however, evidence seems to indicate that trust in both public and private organizations
has been declining for several decades (Kramer, 1999). Trust is a foundation for social order
within and beyond organizations, especially in an increasingly complex, global, fast-paced
business environment (Thoms, Dose, & Scott, 2002) and has a number of important benefits
for organizations and their members (Kramer). For example, trust plays a paramount role in
the creation and development of the psychological contract that binds an employee to the
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
18/56
3
organization, and it can play a key role in explaining employees attitudes and behaviors at
work (Robinson, 1996).
Trust is particularly important for organizations competing in the global marketplace
in which there are uncertainty and risk because partners culture, values, and goals may be
very different (Huff & Kelley, 2003). High levels of organizational trust can critically
reduce litigation charges and transaction costs; and high trust cultures minimize the potential
for destructive and litigated conflict, unnecessary bureaucratic control and administrative
expenditures, and expensive overhead (Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Winograd, 2000, p. 3).
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management have studied job satisfaction, however, the relationship of trust and job
satisfaction has not been studied in the federal government; therefore, this study explores the
relation between organizational trust and job satisfaction in selected U.S. federal agencies.
Background of the Study
Employees in organizations may be motivated to contribute their ideas and talents and
may be quite satisfied with their jobs in an environment that fosters organizational trust and
growth of employees and where their knowledge, skills and abilities are valued and fully
used. Thoms et al. (2002) pointed out that as the demand for skilled workers increases,
creating a satisfied workforce has important implications for organizations. High
performance organizations are believed to trust their employees and provide their employees
with proper empowerment to perform their duties. This empowerment requires management
to entrust the work force with responsibility and authority. Without trust, people assume self-
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
19/56
4
protective, defensive postures that inhibit learning (Costigan, Ilter, & Berman, 1998). An
organizational climate of trust enables employees to submit their ideas and feelings, use each
other as resources, and learn together. Without trust people have a tendency to keep to
themselves, rather than share their thoughts, thereby, inhibiting creativity (Jordan, 1999).
High performance organizations can offer employees the opportunity to perform to
their full capacity, share performance information, engage in the decision-making process,
and encourage innovative and imaginative approach to achieve business results and
organizational goals. This sharing of performance information may provide employees with
the business knowledge they need to perform their jobs well, enjoy their duties, be satisfied
with their jobs, and can provide good communication and customer services. Dalton (2000)
reported that high performance organizations are designed to bring out the best in people and
to create an exceptional capability to deliver high-end results.
According to the U.S. Department of Labors Office of the American Workplace
(1994), greater job satisfaction, employee commitment to high quality, and increased
customer satisfaction would likely result when employees are allowed to make informed
decisions and to involve in information sharing. Boxx, Odom, and Dunn (1991) advised
managers in the public sectors, especially for the transportation industry, to develop and use
human resource management practices that focus on the values of excellence, match
employees desires for their work environment, and create high levels of satisfaction,
commitment, and cohesion. The authors also advised public managers to produce a work
environment that encourages greater employee pride in their work and to allow employees to
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
20/56
5
strive to do their best as well as constantly to seek innovative ways to improve their
organizations operations (Boxx et al.).
Globalization, workplace diversity, increased awareness of cultural differences,
downsizing, delayering, the call for (and in some cases the reality of) increasedworkplace democracy, international networks, complex alliances, information
technologies, and decentralized decision making are only some of the events and
processes during which trust assumes significant importance. (Shockley-Zalabak,Ellis, & Winograd, 2000, p. 2)
Conditions of trust within an organization impact organizational health (Thoms et al., 2002).
As the U.S. federal agencies continue to experience a significant reduction in the
federal budget and in the total federal workforce, organizational units may need to rely on the
existing human assets in order to carry out organizational goals and missions. As federal
employees may be required to perform more for the same pay or smaller pay, trust and job
satisfaction may become increasingly crucial if organizations want to motivate and retain
high performance and quality employees. The result of the 2004 Human Capital Survey
conducted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of 150,000 U.S. federal
employees indicated a slight decrease of job satisfaction from the 2002 Human Capital
Survey. The decrease of job satisfaction should raise an alarming concern for participating
federal organizations.
In 2000 and 2004, the OPM conducted two studies concerning the strategic
management of human capital, but organizational trust has not been studied. Previous
research in the private sectors already established a link between trust and job satisfaction
(Thoms et al., 2002); however, the relationship between trust and job satisfaction in the U.S.
federal workforce has not been studied. Also, although job satisfaction has been studied in
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
21/56
6
the U.S. federal workforce, contributing factors that may lead to an increase in job
dissatisfaction or a declining rate in job satisfaction have not been studied.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between
organizational trust and job satisfaction of federal employees in selected U.S. federal
organizations. By conducting the study, the researcher hoped that selected U.S. federal
agencies will have the data needed to make assessment of their current organizational culture
and, if needed, to promote a workplace culture of mutual trust among organizational
members and between management and employees in order to allow for extraordinary
performance and growth of their employees, as well as to attract, recruit, and retain
effectively the right talents with the necessary skills that are needed. The results of the study
may also be useful to federal senior executives and managers for creating human resources
strategies that will enhance organizational effectiveness.
Statement of the Problem
Trust is an important element of the social system and a social capital (Seligman,
1997). Unfortunately, trust in organizations has been low in the post-Enron organizational
scandal (Watson, 2005). Business survival requires organizations to continue to learn and
trust each other (Adams, 2004); however, organizations in the United States rarely trust each
other sufficiently to enter into a bilateral relationship (Huff & Kelley, 2003). Trust,
particularly between labor and management, is considered important to organizational
success and is an ingredient for competitive advantage (Rousseau, 1997).
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
22/56
7
Trust is needed for employee empowerment to occur. Dew (as cited in Petter, Byrnes,
Choi, Fegan, & Miller, 2002) found that, empowering employees will result in greater job
satisfaction. Empowerment creates in employees a sense of ownership and a sense of being
proud of their work and their organization. In addition to trust, job satisfaction is viewed as
an important organizational factor (Muchinsky, 1990), but according to Rowden, job
satisfaction is one of the most widely researched yet least understood phenomena in
organizations today (2002, p. 1).
Herzbergs theory proposes that managers need to focus on factors associated with
the work itself or outcomes directly derived from it, such as promotional opportunities,
opportunities for personal growth, recognition, responsibility, and achievement and proposes
that employees are likely to dissatisfy with their jobs, concerning the quality of their
supervision, pay, organizational policies, physical working conditions, relations with others,
and job security (Robbins, 2003b). Also, Argyris (1973) proposed that organizations should
seek to increase openness, trust, risk-taking, and expression of feelings and should develop
the belief that human growth is important, for when mistrust in organizations rises, learning
will not occur.
Organizations that have the ability to develop trusting relationships will have a
competitive advantage (Huff & Kelley, 2003). According to Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, and
Winograd, increased job satisfaction, the ability to innovate, and the ability to identify with
a successful organization, all are related to perceptions of trust (2000, p. 7). Also, according
to Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, and Winograd, organizations need to monitor trust levels,
especially during times of rapid change. According to Zauderer (2002), one of the highest
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
23/56
8
accomplishments of an organization is to build a workforce in which employees feel included
and welcomed and work together with mutual respect in order to enhance individual and
organizational productivity. This workplace will be instrumental in attracting and retaining
quality employees, thereby, providing collective energy for strengthening organizational
performance (Zauderer).
In the private sector, a study conducted by the Conference Board of concerned
business leaders found that Americans were growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs.
The decline in job satisfaction was widespread among workers of all ages and across all
income brackets. Half of all Americans said that they were satisfied with their jobs, a figure
down from nearly 60% in 1995. Among the 50% who said they were content, only 14% said
they were very satisfied (Business Credit, 2005).
According to the same Conference Board study, rapid technological changes, rising
productivity demands, and changing employee expectations have all contributed to the
decline in job satisfaction. The decline in job satisfaction will present a new challenge for
employers as large numbers of baby boomers prepare to leave the workforce and may be
replaced by younger workers who tend to be dissatisfied with their jobs and have different
attitudes and expectations about the role of work in their lives. The Enron and WorldCom era
of corporate scandals and the outsourcing of jobs have increased the level of employee
discontent (Business Credit, 2005).
In the U.S. federal government, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and the
OPM have conducted numerous studies concerning the general workforce and job
satisfaction, but no studies were found in which organizational trust has been researched. The
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
24/56
9
2004 Federal Capital Human Survey of 150,000 federal employees from the OPM revealed a
slight declining rate of overall positive responses for job satisfaction to 67.5% from 67.8%
overall positive responses from the same survey conducted in 2002 (OPM, 2004). In
addition, although 46.8% of surveyed participants were satisfied with their jobs, only 21.8%
of participants said that they were very satisfied with the jobs they were doing (OPM). The
findings mean that more than 50% of U.S. federal employees show up only to collect their
paychecks.
Between 1999 and 2005, organizational consultants and behavioral specialists
(Adams, 2004; Chen, 2004, Griffin, Patterson, & West, 2001; Huff & Kelley, 2003; Money
& Graham, 1999; Rowden, 2002; Spence Laschinger et al., 2001; Thoms et al., 2002;
Watson, 2005) have conducted many studies on organizational trust and/or job satisfaction.
In the U.S. federal government between 1980 and 2004, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection
Board and the OPM conducted numerous studies to obtain federal employees opinions on a
variety of issues concerning pay, retirement, health insurance benefits, attracting and
retaining a competent workforce, performance management systems, managerial
accountability, human capital management, recruitment, and so forth; however, the
relationship between organizational trust and job satisfaction has not been studied.
The purpose of this study; therefore, was to determine the relationship between
organizational trust and job satisfaction of employees in selected U.S. federal agencies. The
characteristics of trust and job satisfaction were chosen for the study because having an
understanding of these characteristics appears to provide federal executives and senior
managers great opportunities for promoting mutual trust among organizational members and
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
25/56
10
between management and employees in order to allow for extraordinary performance and
growth of federal employees, as well as to allow for effective recruitment and retaining the
right talents with the necessary skills where they are needed.
Research Questions
The research questions this study examined are as follows:
1. What is the level of trust in selected U.S. federal agencies?
2. What is the level of job satisfaction in selected U.S. federal agencies?
3. What is the relationship between organizational trust and job satisfaction inselected U.S. federal agencies?
Significance of the Study
Employees may want to work in organizations where their ideas are valued and where
there is a mutual trust between their managers and them. There has been a general belief that
managers can make or break the organization and that employees may not quit their jobs but
may choose to leave their managers. According to Palguta, employees
Who entered the civil service often find themselves trapped in a maze of rules andregulations that thwart their personal development and stifle their creativity. The best
are underpaid, the worst, overpaid. Too many of the most talented leave the public
service too early; too many of the least talented stay too long. (2003, p. 1)
Testa, Mueller, and Thomas (2003) found that trust has a number of important
benefits for organizations and their members. In addition, factors leading to job satisfaction
may be different for people of different cultures. According to the U.S. Merit Systems
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
26/56
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
27/56
128
Implications for Further Research
This study focused on the level of organizational trust and job satisfaction and the
relation between organizational trust and job satisfaction in selected U.S. federal agencies.
The data received and the low survey response rate was meaningless to support a correlation
study; therefore, an alternate method of data analysis was chosen. A categorical analysis
technique was employed. Descriptive analysis was chosen to explore the level of
organizational trust and job satisfaction. Pearsons chi-square tests were employed to explore
the association among various dimensions of organizational trust and job satisfaction.
Wherever the responders responses varied significantly, Pearsons chi-square tests were
conducted to explore the association between gender (male/female), position
(supervisor/nonsupervisor) and the scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and
strongly disagree). Specific questions regarding competence, supervision, communications,
concerns for employees, pay, and promotion were examined to measure possible
associations.
The literature review revealed a broad base of research findings in relation to trust
and job satisfaction and factors leading to mistrust and job dissatisfaction in the
organizational, leadership, managerial and interpersonal context. This study focused on the
relation of organizational trust and job satisfaction based on five elements of organizational
trust (e.g., competence, concern for employees, openness and honesty, reliability and
identification), and nine elements of job satisfaction (e.g., coworkers, communications, pay,
promotion, coworkers, supervision, operating conditions, contingent reward, and work itself).
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
28/56
129
The study did not attempt to uncover organizational and interpersonal factors that
may lead to mistrust and job dissatisfaction; however, it is desirable for future research. The
study also did not focus on the degree of satisfaction in terms of interpersonal relationships,
traits and behaviors between managers and employees but attempt to uncover the weaknesses
or strengths as resulted from the survey responses. The review of literature did provide
theoretical framework and foundations on needs, employee motivation as well as various
leadership styles and models in the organizational context, however, no empirical data were
found as to which degree meeting employees and constituents needs can strengthen
organizational performance; therefore, the Balanced Score Card Leadership Framework in
the War on Talents in Appendix B, if implemented, may help provide empirical data on the
relation between balancing employees and organizational needs and performance efficiency.
The findings of the study did find significant associations between gender, position,
age group, job location, occupation and agency; however, no significant associations or
differences were found between gender and the scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral,
agree, andstrongly agree) on certain questions regarding competence, pay, promotion,
communication, supervision, and concerns for employees. The results of the chi-square tests
did not show significant associations or different attitudes between position and the scale for
same questions, regarding competence, pay, promotion, communication, supervision, and
concern for employees; however, significant associations or different attitudes between
supervisors and nonsupervisors were found on the question, communications seem good
within their organization and, on the question, top management listens to employees
concerns should raise an alarming concern to organizational leaders regarding possible
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
29/56
130
disconnection and workplace conflicts among organizational members, and if not addressed
timely, can create an environment of low trust or even mistrust and unproductive workplace.
Recommendations
The research topic is an organizational survey and is related to the Strategic Human
Capital Management initiative, President George W. Bush's Management Agenda for U.S.
federal agencies. Executives may be worried that low trust would be perceived as their
leadership deficiencies. Prior to inviting sampling participants to participate in the research
study, as part of the research methodology requirement, a field test was conducted.
Nonsampling participants outside the selected U.S. federal agencies were invited to
complete the online survey to ensure that the survey would do what it was intended to do.
About 20% of nonsampling participants completed the survey and provided
observations and comments for effective implementation of the online survey. The rest of the
nonsampling participants (80%) did not respond to the field test, worrying that their agency
management would issue some types of disciplinary actions or employee relation warnings
against them for completing the survey without agency prior approval. The problem could
have been avoided if the survey instrument was provided to management in advance for their
review, and if permission to distribute the survey for the field test was authorized by agency
management. Future researchers and practitioners should obtain agency permission and
approval in advance for successful implementation of the field test for a chosen research
methodology.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
30/56
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
31/56
132
with the federal government tightened budgets, (e) employees low trust or the lack of it
toward agency management, (f) no support from management and employees for
independent surveys, (g) lack of agency support for the research study, (h) lack of credible
research sponsorships, and so forth.
Future researchers need to be aware of organizational constraints as well as internal
and external factors that may impact their research study and data collection. Other methods
of data collection, such as distributing the survey on premises, postal survey, etc, and
longitudinal study may be considered to enhance the rate of response for the purpose of
generalizability of the research findings.
The sample for this study was too low with n = 74 or 7.5% versus an expected rate of
20%, hence valid conclusions cannot be drawn for these selected U.S. federal agencies. To
draw any valid conclusions, a total response rate (n) required should be about 176 at the
minimum or more; however, the n for the study is sufficient for a descriptive analysis. In the
future, practitioners can study the relation of organizational trust and job satisfaction in more
depth, and with a larger n, an attempt to conduct a correlational, Pearsons rstatistical
analysis or even an inferential study (with a large n) is more feasible and meaningful. Future
researchers and practitioners should attempt to obtain a larger n, and when the rate of
response from sampling participants is sufficiently large, they can draw better conclusions
and generalize the research results.
Given the difficulty in promoting federal agencies to participate in the research study
and in achieving validity and generalizability for the research findings, practitioners can
replicate the study and find creditable organizational sponsors, including the White House to
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
32/56
133
finance and support the research to enhance the validity of the research findings. Then
practitioners would then also be able to conduct confirmatory inferential tests, using these
results as the hypotheses of their research. Pre-hoc power testing could also be conducted,
using the results of this research, to estimate the appropriate sample size needed for future
study. Future study should include more union employees, administrative and technical
occupations and to include employees at all grade levels in organizations with safety,
emergency response, and security mission. The validity of the research results is crucial in
strategy development and implementation to improve the effectiveness in human capital
management.
The review of literature revealed that managers and leaders may have the control over
how they want to lead and manage their own organizations; therefore, practitioners may want
to expand the study to explore possible associations between position and the scale on
transformational leadership and on transactional leadership, and to explore possible
associations between position and the scale on Theory X managers and on Theory Y
managers. The results could help organizational leaders to develop appropriate human
resources strategies to promote effective management of organizational human talents and to
effectively develop both the organizations and their employees.
If open and honest communications between supervisors and employees fail (only
50.68% of responders believed that their supervisor are sincere in his/her efforts to
communicate with team members), organizational empowerment becomes impossible. If
supervisors and employees are disconnected on the issues that are important to them,
supervisors and employees may fail in meeting mutual needs; and subsequently, may face an
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
33/56
134
artificial barrier for the development and growth of both the employees and the organization.
Employees may not leave their jobs, but rather may choose to just leave their supervisors.
Organizations should be concerned if quality and highly skilled employees begin to leave the
organizations. The question for future researchers is what can be done to help managers to
realize that loosing the talented pool of employees will impact the morale of existing
workforce and organizational efficiency.
The success of the Nation and the federal organizations in the technological-based
and knowledge-based society depends on how leaders and managers manage their
organizational human talents and resources to achieve strategic goals and missions. The
Balanced Score Card Leadership Framework in the War on Talents in Appendix B may be
helpful to leaders and senior managers in addressing organizational needs and in responding
to the current human capital management challenges facing federal agencies. Practitioners
may want to test the framework to determine if the framework would help to minimize
possible gaps in the disconnection between supervisors and nonsupervisors, in both short-
term and long-term, of issues and areas that are important to organizational members to
promote extraordinary organizational performance and to promote growth of both
organizational members and the organizations.
Trust is built largely through the way in which culture of communication is
implemented by organizational leadership (Allert & Chatterjee, 1997). Trust and distrust are
attitudes that affect the way people think, feel, and act. Trust also affects a persons
understanding of other people (Govier, 1998). Transformational leadership is a foundational
requirement for building mutual trust in which extraordinary performance and job
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
34/56
135
satisfaction can survive and thrive. The study indicated a significant difference in attitudes
between supervisors and nonsupervisors in terms of interpretation what communications
seem good within the organization and what top management listens to employees
concerns really mean. The differences in interpretation of ones good intentions may lead to
interpersonal conflicts. Future researcher may want to explore what makes good
communications and what makes employees feel that top management truly listens to their
concerns among work groups can significantly contribute to workplace demographic,
enhance trust and job satisfaction in organizations.
Conclusions
As the U.S. federal agencies may continue to experience a significant reduction in the
federal budget and in the total federal labor force due to the overall federal shrinking budget
and the changing workforce requirements, organizational units are required to transform the
way they operate. The events of September 11, 2001 have placed federal agencies in a
different level playing field in competing for taxpayers dollars to carry out their
organizational missions. Federal agencies continuously find themselves operate and produce
services in an increasingly result-based and market-based driven mentality they have ever
experienced in the past. As federal employees may be required to perform more for the same
pay or for less pay, and may be required to share the knowledge, expertise and job
information through a process called, knowledge management, to help agencies achieve the
White Houses strategic human capital management initiative, organizational trust and job
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
35/56
136
satisfaction may become increasingly crucial if organizations want to motivate and retain
high performance and quality employees.
As federal agencies will have to compete with the private sector for similar positions
or for highly skilled professional and technical positions, given the same pool of available
and qualified candidates, the fight for attracting and recruitment of the right human talents
might present federal executives with an enormous human resource challenge. The role of the
senior managers is increasingly crucial in increasingly technological and knowledge-based
organizations. These senior managers can make or break the organizations, or they can help
build a talented federal workforce with highly skilled, knowledgeable, committed and
motivated federal employees.
Leaders and managers, who value continuous improvements of organizational
processes, systems, applications and procedures, promote open communications, understand
the diverse needs of employees and stakeholders, support career growth of their employees,
will be able to sustain and maintain high quality employees and able to attract and recruit the
right talents at the right time, and when these talents are needed.
Using the results provided in this study, the relation of organizational trust and job
satisfaction in the U.S. federal workforce should be studied more in-depth. Future study
should explore underlying organizational and personnel issues which may lead to mistrust
and job dissatisfaction and should include elements, such as approaches and styles of formal
communications, decision-making, work systems, policies and procedures, rules and
regulations, applications, processes, performance appraisals, informal networking, mentoring
and coaching, and so forth.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
36/56
137
The literature review provided factors and characteristics, which would help
organizations to build high level of trust, high level of job satisfaction, proper method of
empowerment to achieve performance outcomes with fewer resources, high performance
work system, traditional workplace environment versus high performance environment,
leadership strategies and models. The content of the paper and the Balanced Score Card
Leadership Framework in the War on Talents in Appendix B should serve as helpful hints
and resources to assist organizational leaders and managers in doing the right thing for the
welfare of their employees, for themselves, their organizations, and the Nation, regardless of
the political, social and cultural environment.
Truly effective leaders must have strong values and belief in the capacity of
individual to grow (Hennessey, 1998), provide means and opportunities for and eliminates
obstacles to individual and group growth and development (Humphries & Senden, 2000),
build trusting relationships by practicing openness, being fair, speaking their feelings, telling
the truth, showing consistency, fulfilling their premises, maintaining confidences, and
demonstrating competence (Robbins, 2003b).
In a time of reorganization, revolution, and change, strategic leadership is essential in
order to maintain competitiveness and to recognize the development stage of the organization
(Vicere, 1992). Charismatic leadership is central to the transformational leadership, involves
gaining respect, trust, and confidence of others, and transforming a strong sense of mission to
them (Yammarino & Dubinsky, 1994).
As the federal workforce may be increasingly more diverse (Diversity Central, n.d.),
between 1994 and 2005, women of all ethnic groups accounted for 62% of the net new
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
37/56
138
entrants, and 50% split for men and women), and as the work of the federal government is
changing and becoming more complex, and as federal agencies will increasingly find
themselves competing with the private sector, as well as each other, for the same pool of
qualified candidates, leaders and managers who understand and value diversity, are sensitive
to the needs of their employees and constituents, are sensitive to the concerns of employees,
are aware of improper competition among organizational members and organizational units,
are aware of improper political and improper personal agenda, and are strategic in the
management of organizational resources will be able to maintain and sustain organizational
competitiveness and organizational human capital.
The leaders and senior managers in the technological-based and knowledge-based
society must be able to demonstrate the employee-oriented and the production-oriented
leadership and management style. There must be a balance for the welfare of the
organizations and for the employees who work in U.S. federal organizations, and for the new
hires.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
38/56
139
REFERENCES
Adams, S. H. (2004). The relationships among adult attachment, general self-disclosure, andperceived organizational trust. Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Instituteand State University, Virginia. Retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-032504-150617/unrestricted/
SamAdamsRevDissertationFinal.pdf
Allert, J. R., & Chatterjee, S. R. (1997). Corporate communication and trust in leadership.
Corporate Communications, 2(1), 1-10.
Argyris, C. (1973). On organizations of the future. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Aronson, D. (2002). Managing the diversity revolution: Best practices for 21stcentury
business. Civil Rights Journal, 6(1), 46.
Atkinson, S., & Butcher, D. (2003). Trust in the context of management relationships: An
empirical study. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 68(4), 1-18.
Baghai, M. A., Coley, S. C., Farmer, R. H., & Sarrazin, H. (1997). The growth philosophy of
bombardier: An interview with Laurent Beaudoin, chairman and CEO of Bombardier,Inc. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2, 1-22.
Bass, B. M. (2000). The future of leadership in learning organizations.Journal of LeadershipStudies, 7(3), 1-28.
Bennett, R. H., III, Harriman, J. H. P., & Dunn, G. (1999). Todays corporate executive
leadership programs: Building for the future.Journal of Leadership Studies, 1-18.
Boxx, W. R., Odom, R. Y., & Dunn, M. G. (1991). Organizational values and value
congruency and their impact on satisfaction, commitment, and cohesion: Anempirical examination within the public sector.Public Personnel Management, 20(2),1-9.
Brown, O., Jr. (2000).Participatory approaches to work systems and organizational design.Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society,
Santa Monica, CA.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
39/56
140
Buckingham, M., & Vosburgh, R. M. (2001). The 21stcentury human resources function: Its
the talent, stupid! Identifying and developing talent, one person at a time, becomes
our defining challenge.Human Resource Planning, 24(4), 1-7.
Bundt, J. (2000). Strategic stewards: Managing accountability, building trust.Journal of
Public Administration Research and Theory, 10(4), 1-19.
Business Credit. (2005, April). U.S. job satisfaction keeps falling. Retrieved September 23,2005, from http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/397371-1.html
Chen, L. Y. (2004). Examining the effect of organization culture and leadership behaviors on
organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and job performance at small and mid-
sized firms of Taiwan.Journal of American Academy of Business, 5(1/2), 1-8.
Chiu, C. (1998). Do professional women have lower job satisfaction than professional men?
Lawyers as a case study. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 38(7-8), 1-16.
Comm, C. L., & Mathaisel, D. F. X. (2000). Assessing employee satisfaction in service
firms: An example in higher education. The Journal of Business and EconomicStudies, 6(1), 1-8.
Cook, J., & Wall, T. (1980). New work attitude measures of trust, organizationalcommitment and personal need nonfulfillment.Journal of Occupational Psychology,53, 39-52.
Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2003).Business research methods(8th
ed.). Boston:McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Costigan, R. D., Ilter, S. S., & Berman, J. J. (1998). A multi-dimensional study of trust inorganizations.Journal of Managerial Issues, 10(3), 1-14.
Costigan, R. D., Insinga, R. C., Kranas, G., Kureshov, V. A., & Ilter, S. S. (2004). Predictorsof employee trust of their CEO: A three-country study.Journal of Managerial Issues,16(2), 1-21.
Creswell, J. W. (2003).Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodsapproaches (2
nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Culbert, S. A., & McDonough, J. J. (1986). The politics of trust and organizationempowerment.Public Administration Quarterly, 10(2), 1-18.
Dalton, D. (2000). Understanding high performance organizations. Security, 37, 69-73.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
40/56
141
Diversity Central. (n.d.).Entrants to the workforce. Retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://www.diversityhotwire.com/business/entrants
Dwivedi, R. S. (1983). Management by trust: A conceptual model. Group andOrganizational Studies, 8, 375-402.
Einstein, W. O., & Humphreys, J. H. (2001). Transforming leadership: Matching diagnostics
to leader behaviors.Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(1), 1-16.
Eisner, E. (1991). What makes a study quantitative?New York: Macmillian.
Ellis, K., & Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2001). Trust in top management and immediate
supervisor: The relationship to satisfaction, perceived organizational effectiveness,and information receiving. Communication Quarterly. 48(4), 1-22.
Fairholm, G. W. (1994).Leadership and the culture of trust. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Farias, G. F., & Varma, A. (1998). Research update: High performance work systems: What
we know and what we need to know.Human Resources Planning, 21(2), 1-3.
Farrell, M. A. (2000). Developing a market-oriented learning organization.AustralianJournal of Management, 25(2), 1-29.
Ferch, S. R., & Mitchell, M. M. (2001). Intentional forgiveness in relational leadership: A
technique for enhancing effective leadership.Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(4), 1-17.
Flores, F., & Solomon, R. C. (2003).Building trust: In business, politics, relationships, andlife. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fotheringham, A. S. (1998). Trends in quantitative methods II: Stressing the computational.
Progress in Human Geography, 22(2), 283.
Frank, M. S. (1993). The essence of leadership.Public Personnel Management, 22(3), 1-9.
Gibson, J. W., Blackwell, C. W., Dominicis, P., & Demerath, N. (2002). Telecommuting inthe 21stcentury: Benefits, issues, and a leadership model which will work.Journal ofLeadership Studies, 8(4), 1-14.
Gilbert, J. A., & Tang, L. P. T. (1998). An examination of organizational trust antecedents.
Public Personnel Management, 27(3), 1-18.
Gill, R., Levine, N., & Pitt, D. C. (1998). Leadership and organizations for the new
millennium.Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(4), 1-16.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
41/56
142
Goris, J. R., Vaught, B. C., & Pettit, J. D., Jr. (2000). Effects of communication direction on
job performance and satisfaction: A moderated regression analysis. The Journal ofBusiness Communication, 37(4), 1-19.
Govier, T. (1998).Dilemmas of trust. Montreal, Canada: McGill-Queens University Press.
Retrieved December 7, 2005, from www.questia.com
Griffin, M. A., Patterson, M. G., & West, M. A. (2001). Job satisfaction and teamwork: The
role of supervisory support.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(5), 1-10.
Hafeez, K., & Abdelmeguid, H. (2003). Dynamics of human resource and knowledge
management. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 54(2), 1-9.
Hagel, J., III. (1993). The CEO as chief performance officer. The McKinsey Quarterly, 4, 1-12.
Handfield-Jones, H. (2000). How executive grow. The McKinsey Quarterly, 1-7.
Harris, K. J. (2004). What you dont know cant hurt you: The interactive relationshipbetween leader-member exchange and perceptions of politics on job satisfaction.
Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 188-203
Harvey, M. (2001). The hidden force: A critique of normative approaches to business
leadership. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 66(4), 1-22.
Haskins, W. A. (1996). Freedom of speech: construct for creating a culture which empowersorganizational members. The Journal of Business Communication, 33(1), 1-14.
Hayes, A. (1999). New presence of women leaders.Journal of Leadership Studies, 1-12.
Hennessey, J. T., Jr. (1998). Reinventing government: Does leadership make the difference.
Public Administration Review, 58(6), 522.
Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D., & Sanders, G. (1990). Measuring organizational
cultures: A qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases.AdministrativeScience Quarterly, 35(2), 1-37.
Hopkins, W. E., & Hopkins, S. A. (1998). Diversity leadership: A mandate for the 21st
century workforce.Journal of Leadership Studies, 5,1-14.
Huberman, A. M., & Miles, M. B. (2002). The qualitative researchers companion.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
42/56
143
Huff, L., & Kelley, L. (2003). Levels of organizational trust in individualist versus
collectivist societies: A seven-nation study. Organizational Science, 14, 1-13.
Humphries, E., & Senden, B. (2000). Leadership and change: A dialogue of theory and
practice.Journal of Early Childhood, 25(1), 1-9.
Jeanquart-Barone, S. (1993). Trust differences between supervisors and subordinates:
Examining the role of race and gender. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 29(1-2).
Jordan, S. A. (1999). Innovative cultures + empowered employees = high performance
organizations.Public Productivity and Management Review, 23, 109-115.
Judge, W. Q. (2001). Is a leaders character culture-bound or culture-free? An empiricalcomparison of the character traits of American and Taiwanese CEOs.Journal ofLeadership Studies, 8(2), 1-18.
Kezar, A. (2002). Reconstructing static images of leadership: An application of positionalitytheory.Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(3), 1-19.
Kim, S. (2002). Participative management and job satisfaction: Lessons for management
leadership.Public Administration Review, 62(2), 1-23.
Kouzes, J. M. (2003).Business leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge(3rd
ed.). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Kramer, R. M. (1999). Trust and distrust in organizations: Emerging perspectives, enduring
questions.Annual Review of Psychology, 1-35.
La Porta, R., Lopez-De-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). Trust in large
organizations.American Economic Review, 87(2), 332-333.
Likert, R. (1967). The human organizations: Its management and value. New York:McGraw-Hill.
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. Dunnette (Ed.),
Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology(pp. 1297-1350). Chicago:Rand McNally.
Lynch, M. (2001, February). Managing the public trust portfolio. Paper presented at the 6th
International Conference in Public Communication of Science and Technology,CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
43/56
144
McCauley, D. P., & Kuhnert, K. W. (1992). A theoretical review and empirical investigation
of employee trust in management.Public Administration Quarterly, 16(2), 265-285.
McCormick, M. J. (2001). Self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness: Applying social
cognitive theory to leadership.Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(1), 1-11.
McGregor, D. (1967). The professional manager. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Meyer, G. D., Powell, K. S., & Tucker, M. L. (1995). Qualitative research in businesscommunication: A review and analysis. The Journal of Business Communication,32(4), 383.
Mishra, A. K. (1996). Organizational responses to crisis: The centrality of trust. In R. M.Kramer & T. R. Tyler (Eds.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory andresearch(pp. 261-287). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mitchell, R. C., & Rossmoore, D. (2001). Why good leaders cant use good advice.Journalof Leadership Studies, 8(2), 1-20.
Mollering, G. (2001). The nature of trust: From Georg Simmel to a theory of expectation,
interpretation and suspension. Sociology, 35(2), 1-20.
Money, R. B., & Graham, J. L. (1999). Salesperson performance, pay, and job satisfaction:
Tests of a model using data collected in the United States and Japan.Journal ofInternational Business Studies, 30(1), 1-14.
Moore, M. (2000).High performance work system. Retrieved September 23, 2005, fromhttp://www.msu.edu
Mosley, A. L. (1998). A behavioral approach to leadership: Implications for diversity in
todays organizations.Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(1), 38.
Muchinsky, P. M. (1990).Psychology applied to work: An introduction to industrial andorganizational psychology. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Mulvey, J., & Li, A. (December 2000). The impact of workforce characteristics on turnoverrates. Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 1-12.
Naumann, E. (1993). Organizational predictors of expatriate job satisfaction.Journal ofInternational Business Studies, 24(1), 1-19.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
44/56
145
New rankings show government is a better place to work today: Employee satisfaction is upin 3 out of 4 government agencies. (2005, September 14). Retrieved September 23,2005, from www.ourpublicservice.org/pressroom/pressroom_show.htm?doc_id:296572
Palguta, J. M. (2003). Revitalizing the federal government for the 21 century: Presentingdiffering perspectives on the report of the national commission on the public service.
The Public Manager, 32(1), 1-3.
Partnership for Public Service. (2005, February). Where the jobs are: The continuing growthof federal job opportunities. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.ourpublicservice.org/research/research_show.htm?doc_id=260717
Partnership for Public Service. (2005, July 14). The hiring process. Retrieved September 23,2005, from http://www.ourpublicservice.org/research/research_show.htm?doc_id=
285810
Partnership for Public Service. (n.d.). The best places to work for the federal government in2005. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from www.ourpublicservice.org/research/research_show.htm
Pearsons chi-square. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2006, from http://www.answers.com
Perry, J. L., Petrakis, B. A., & Miller, T. K. (1989). Federal merit pay, round II: An analysis
of the performance.Public Administration Review, 49(1), 1-2.
Petter, J., Byrnes, P., Choi, D. L., Fegan, F., & Miller, R. (2002). Dimensions and patterns in
employee empowerment: Assessing what matters to street-level bureaucrats.Journalof Public Administration Research and Theory, 12(3), 377.
Phillips, C. J. (1997). Do you trust me?Executive Excellence, 14, 7-10.
Pielstick, C. D. (1998). The transforming leader: A meta-ethnographic analysis. CommunityCollege Review, 26(3), 15.
Posner, B. Z., & Schmidt, W. H. (1996). The values of business and federal governmentexecutives: More different than alike.Public Personnel Management, 25(3), 1-13.
Potok, N. F. (2002). Leading transformation: Views on the Presidents agenda: What keypresenters had to say about current federal management directions at the association
of government accountants annual leadership conference. The Public Manager,31(1), 1-5.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
45/56
146
Randolph, W. A. (2000). Re-thinking empowerment: Why is it so hard to achieve?
Organizational Dynamics, 29(2), 94-107.
Recardo, R., & Jolly, J. (1997). Organizational culture and teams. SAM AdvancedManagement Journal, 62(2), 1-8.
Rejai, M., & Phillips, K. (1998). Comparing leaders: An interactional theory.Journal ofLeadership Studies, 5(1), 1-12.
Riccucci, N. M. (1995). Execurats, politics and public policy: What are the ingredients for
successful performance in the federal government.Public Administration Review,55(3), 219-230.
Richer, H., & Stopper, W. G. (1999). Hiring to build change capacity: The human resource
role.Human Resource Planning, 22(2), 1-6.
Risher, H., & Stopper, W. G. (2002). Corporate sponsor forum.Human Resource Planning,25(1) 1-12.
Robbins, S. P. (2003a).Essentials of organizational behavior(7thed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Robbins, S. P. (2003b). Organizational behavior (10thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Robinson, S. L. (1996). Trust and breach of the psychological contract.AdministrativeScience Quarterly, 41(4), 574.
Robson, C. (2003).Real world research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers(2
nded.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Rockman, B. A. (2003). The challenge of leadership in a federal agency.Journal of PublicAdministration Research and Theory, 13(4), 1-4.
Rousseau, D. M. (1997). Organizational behavior in the new organizational era.AnnualReview of Psychology, 48, 1-37.
Rowden, R. W. (2002). The relationship between workplace learning and job satisfaction in
U.S. small to midsize businesses.Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13(4), 1-12.
Savage, D. (1982). Trust as a productivity management tool. Training and DevelopmentJournal, 54-57.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
46/56
147
Seligman, A. B. (1997). The problem of trust. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Shea, G. (1984).Building trust in the workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shockley-Zalabak, P., Ellis, K., & Cesaria, R. (2000). Measuring organizational trust:
Cross-cultural survey and index. San Francisco: IABC Research Foundation.
Shockley-Zalabak, P., Ellis, K., & Winograd, G. (2000). Organizational trust: What it means
and why it matters. Organizational Development Journal, 18(4), 1-10.
Smith, V. (1997). New forms of work organization.Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 1-29.
Sonnenburg, F. K. (1994). Managing with a conscience. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sosik, J. J. (2000). The role of personal meaning in charismatic leadership.Journal ofLeadership Studies, 7(2), 1-19.
Spector, P. E. (1985). Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of the
job satisfaction survey.American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(6), 693-713.
Spector, P. E. (1997).Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, and consequences.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Spence Laschinger, H. K., Finegan, J., & Shamian, J. (2001). The impact of workplace
empowerment, organizational trust on staff nurses work satisfaction and
organizational commitment.Health Care Management Review, 26(3), 1-16.
Strickland, L. H. (1958). Surveillance and trust.Journal of Personality, 26, 200-215.
Testa, M. R., Mueller, S. L., & Thomas, A. S. (2003). Cultural fit and job satisfaction in a
global service environment. Management International Review, 43(2), 1-12.
Thoms, P., Dose, J. J., & Scott, K. S. (2002). Relationships between accountability, job
satisfaction, and trust.Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13(3), 1-11.
Ting, Y. (1997). Determinants of job satisfaction of federal employees.Public PersonnelManagement, 26(3), 1-28.
Trochim, W. M. K. (1997).Basic research methods in the social science. Fullerton, CA:California State University.
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. (1998, March 20).
Government as a high performance employer: A SCANS report for America.Retrieved January 14, 2006, from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/govhpe/govhpe.pdf
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
47/56
148
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the American Workplace. (1994).Road to high-performance workplace: A guide to better jobs and better business results.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Policy and Evaluation. (2003, September).
The federal workforce for the 21
st
century: Results of the merit principles survey2000. Retrieved February 12, 2006, from http://www.mspb.gov/studies/mps_2000/mps_2000.htm
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Policy and Evaluation. (2005).Issues ofmerit: Understanding job satisfaction. Retrieved February 12, 2006, from http://www.mspb.gov/studies/newsletters/05septnws/05Sept. pdf
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (1992, September-2004, September). Centralpersonnel data file. Retrieved January 15, 2006, from http://www.opm.gov/feddata/tot04mo.pdf
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2004).Federal Human Capital Survey 2004.Retrieved November 18, 2006, from http://www.fhcs2004.opm.gov/FHCSreports/ResponseWPCT.asp?AGY=ALL&SECT=6
Van Buren, M. E., & Werner, J. M. (1996). High performance work systems.Business andEconomic Review, 43(1), 1-9.
Vicere, A. A. (1992). The strategic leadership imperative for executive development.HumanResource Planning, 15(1), 1-18.
Walker, J. W. (2001). Human capital: Beyond HR?Hr. Human Resource Planning, 24(2), 1-4.
Watson, M. L. (2005, March).Illusions of trust: A comparison of corporate annual reportexecutive letters before and after SOX. Paper presented at the 8
thInternational Public
Relations Research Conference, Miami, FL. Retrieved January 21, 2006, from http://
www.instituteforpr.com
Weiskittel, P. (1999). The concept of leadership.Nephrology Nursing Journal, 26(5), 467-536.
Wilpert, B. (1995). Organizational behavior.Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 1-41.
Wofford, J. C. (1994). Getting inside the leaders head: A cognitive processes approach to
leadership. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 59(3), 1-10.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
48/56
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
49/56
150
APPENDIX AORGANIZATIONAL TRUST AND JOB SATISFACTION SURVEY
Directions: This survey is designed to assess the level of organizational trust and job
satisfaction employees possess. Following are statements about your organization, as well as
yourself. Please circle the response that you think best indicates the current reality of youragency.
Organizational Trust--Use the following ratings:
1 2 3 4 5SD = Strongly Disagree; D = Disagree; N = Neutral; A = Agree; SA= Strongly Agree
1. I can tell my immediate supervisor when things are going wrong.1 2 3 4 5
2. My immediate supervisor follows through with what he/she says.1 2 3 4 5
3. I am highly satisfied with the organizations overall efficiency of operation.1 2 3 4 5
4. My immediate supervisor listens to me.
1 2 3 4 5
5. I am free to disagree with my immediate supervisor.
1 2 3 4 5
6. Top management is sincere in their efforts to communicate with employees.
1 2 3 4 5
7. My immediate supervisor behaves in a consistent manner from day to day.
1 2 3 4 5
8. I feel connected to my organization.
1 2 3 4 5
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
50/56
151
9. I am highly satisfied with the overall quality of the products and/or services of the
organization.
1 2 3 4 5
10. I have a say in decisions that affect my job.
1 2 3 4 5
11. My immediate supervisor keeps confidences.
1 2 3 4 5
12. I receive adequate information regarding how well I am doing in my job.
1 2 3 4 5
13. I am highly satisfied with the capacity of the organization to achieve its objectives.
1 2 3 4 5
14. I receive adequate information regarding how I am being evaluated.1 2 3 4 5
15. Top management listens to employees concerns.
1 2 3 4 5
16. Top management keeps their commitments to employees.
1 2 3 4 5
17. I am highly satisfied with the capacity of the organizations employees.1 2 3 4 5
18. I feel connected to my immediate supervisor.1 2 3 4 5
19. I receive adequate information regarding how my job-related problems are handled.1 2 3 4 5
20. My immediate supervisor is concerned about my personal well-being.
1 2 3 4 5
21. I receive adequate information regarding how organizational decisions are made that
affect my job.1 2 3 4 5
22. Top management is concerned about employees well-being.1 2 3 4 5
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
51/56
152
23. My immediate supervisor keeps his/her commitments to team members.
1 2 3 4 5
24. My values are similar to the values of my immediate supervisor.
1 2 3 4 5
25. I receive adequate information regarding the long-term strategies of my organization.
1 2 3 4 5
26. My immediate supervisor is sincere in his/her efforts to communicate with team
members.
1 2 3 4 5
27. My immediate supervisor speaks positively about subordinates in front of others.
1 2 3 4 5
Job Satisfaction--Use the following ratings:1 2 3 4 5
SD = Strongly Disagree; D = Disagree; N = Neutral; A = Agree; SA= Strongly Agree
28. I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do.1 2 3 4 5
29. There is really too little chance for promotion on my job.1 2 3 4 5
30. My supervisor is quite competent in doing his/her job.1 2 3 4 5
31. I am not satisfied with the benefits I receive.
1 2 3 4 5
32. When I do a good job, I receive the recognition for it that I should receive.
1 2 3 4 5
33. Many of our rules and procedures make doing a good job difficult.
1 2 3 4 5
34. I like the people I work with.
1 2 3 4 5
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
52/56
153
35. I sometimes feel my job is meaningless.
1 2 3 4 5
36. Communications seem good within this organization.
1 2 3 4 5
37. Raises are too few and far between.
1 2 3 4 5
38. Those who do well on the job stand a fair chance of being promoted.
1 2 3 4 5
39. My supervisor is unfair to me.1 2 3 4 5
40. The benefits we receive are as good as most other organizations offer.
1 2 3 4 5
41. I do not feel that the work I do is appreciated.1 2 3 4 5
42. My efforts to do a good job are seldom blocked by red tape.1 2 3 4 5
43. I find I have to work harder at my job than I should because of the incompetence of
people I work with.1 2 3 4 5
44. I like doing the things I do at work.1 2 3 4 5
45. The goals of this organization are not clear to me.1 2 3 4 5
46. I feel unappreciated by the organization when I think about what they pay me.
1 2 3 4 547. People get ahead as fast here as they do in other places.
1 2 3 4 5
48. My supervisor shows too little interest in the feelings of subordinates.
1 2 3 4 5
49. The benefit package we have is equitable.
1 2 3 4 5
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
53/56
154
50. There are few rewards for those who work here.
1 2 3 4 5
51. I have too much to do at work.
1 2 3 4 5
52. I enjoy my coworkers.
1 2 3 4 5
53. I often feel that I do not know what is going on with the organization.
1 2 3 4 5
54. I feel a sense of pride in doing my job.
1 2 3 4 5
55. I feel satisfied with my chances for salary increases.1 2 3 4 5
56. There are benefits we do not have which we should have.
1 2 3 4 5
57. I like my supervisor.
1 2 3 4 5
58. I have too much paper work.1 2 3 4 5
59. I dont feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be.1 2 3 4 5
60. I am satisfied with my chances for promotion.1 2 3 4 5
61. There is too much bickering and fighting at work.
1 2 3 4 5
62. My job is enjoyable.
1 2 3 4 5
63. Work assignments are not fully explained.
1 2 3 4 5
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
54/56
155
Demographics
64. Gender: ___M ___F
65. How long have you been with your organization?
___ less than 6 months ___ 1-3 years ___ 6+ years
___ 6 months to 1 year ___ 3-6 years
66. What is your occupation?
___ Professional ___ Administrative ___ Technical
___ Clerical/Secretarial ___ Other (e.g., Co-op Students, Interns, etc.)
67. What is your grade level?____GS-9 and under ____ GS-10 to GS-12 ____ GS-13+ ____SES
____ Wage System ____________ Other (please specify)
68. The year you were born? _______ (write in)
69. Do you belong to a union? ____Yes ____No
70. What is your position? _____Supervisory _____Nonsupervisory
71. What is the size of your division?
______ Less than 50 employees ___ 151-400 employees __ Over 1000
___ 51-150 employees ___ 401-1000 employees
72. Where is your job location?
___ Headquarters ___ Field Offices
73. What is your organizational mission? _____Emergency Response ____Safety
____ Other (Please write in)
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
55/56
156
Comments__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.
-
8/14/2019 The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction: An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
56/56
APPENDIX BBALANCED SCORE CARD LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
IN THE WAR ON TALENTS
1. Balance the short-term needs and long-term needs of the employees with those of the
organization.
2. Anticipate and forecast future organizational resources and workforce requirements
and expectations.
3. Focus energy and resources toward meeting constituents needs.
4. Anticipate continuous improvements and change necessary to be in alignment withthe changing political, social, economic, and cultural environment.
5. Provide equality and equity to all concerned.
6. Lead by example.
7. Use the appropriate strategy as situations demand in leading the organization:
evolutionary, revolutionary, allocation/reallocation of resources, and informationtechnology.
8. Create a performance culture that encourages and promotes employee empowerment
necessary for creating a learning organization and for developing the employees and
the organization.
Copyright Phuong L. Callaway, 2005, All rights reserved.