Trust in Employee/Employer Relationships: A Survey of West Michigan Managers

Abstract

Trust is at the core of all relationships. We spend a lifetime building a trust relationship with our friends and families, but we spend thirty minutes in an orientation session with our new employees and expect to have a successful and productive employee. “For employees to trust the management, they must know that the management shares the basic goals in the long run…and each will behave in ways that are not harmful to the other.” (Ouchi — 1982). It has been reported that more than 78% of American workers are suspicious of management and develop an “as-against-them” syndrome that interferes with their performance. (Wall Street, February 1987).