Description

The Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) is an assessment instrument designed to measure employees’ trust in their colleagues, supervisors, and the organization as a whole. Workplace trust is considered an important element of organizational functioning because it is closely related to cooperation, commitment, and overall employee satisfaction.

Aim

The primary aim of the WTS is to identify and examine levels of trust within the workplace, highlighting areas in which trust may be limited, weakened, or questioned.

The instrument can provide useful information for understanding workplace climate and the quality of relationships among employees, supervisors, and the organization.

Analysis and Use of Data

The survey assesses trust across several dimensions of the work environment, including trust in colleagues, trust in supervisors, trust in the organization, and trust in organizational procedures.

The resulting data can be used to examine relationships between organizational trust and variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, cooperation, employee attitudes, and workplace behavior.

Scoring

Participants rate the statements using a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 = “Strongly Disagree” to 5 = “Strongly Agree.”

Higher scores indicate higher levels of workplace trust, whereas lower scores may indicate reduced confidence in colleagues, supervisors, the organization, or its procedures.

Interpretation of the results should take into account the organizational structure, interpersonal relationships, and broader workplace context.

References

Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2001). The role of trust in organizational settings. Organization Science, 12(4), 450–467.

Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734.

Tyler, T. R. (1994). Psychological models of the justice motive: Antecedents of distributive and procedural justice. In M. Ross & D. K. Whitford (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on justice. Springer.

Whitener, E. M. (1997). The impact of trust on employee attitudes and behaviors. Human Resource Management Review, 7(3), 389–404.