Employee response to untrustworthy behavior by immediate supervisors

Abstract

Trust is one of the interconnecting links that nurture ongoing interactions between individuals. Trust is the crucial component of organisational effectiveness and is also viewed as an elementary aspect on developing communication relationships and satisfaction in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in employee intended response towards untrustworthy behaviour by immediate supervisors. Untrustworthy behaviour by immediate supervisor results in confusion, worry, and fear, which at the end slows the wheels of progress and profit. A major finding in this study indicates that employees can intend to respond to untrustworthy behaviour by immediate supervisor in a number of ways, which might be formal as well as informal. A group of South African white collar employees intended to respond to untrustworthy behavior, through direct communication with supervisors, before invoking more formal procedures. These employees intend to respond stronger by declaring a CCMA dispute when faced with untrustworthy behaviour. There were no significant differences in intended response of employees from different gender and age groups. There are significant differences in the intensity of response of African and white employees. African employees intend to respond stronger to untrustworthy behavior by immediate supervisor than white employees.