Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
by
Phuong L. Callaway
DISSERTATION.COM
Boca Raton
The Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Satisfaction:
An Analysis in the U.S. Federal Work Force
Dissertation.com
Boca Raton, Florida
USA • 2007
by
Phuong L. Callaway
Doctor of Philosophy
Capella University
October 2006
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
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
attitudes between supervisors and nonsupervisors were found regarding what good
communications meant and how they interpret the question, “top management truly listens to
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
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
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
love you and am very proud of you both. I know both of you are very happy to see me
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 one’s 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 Vietnam’s daily
iii
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
iv
Acknowledgments
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
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
mentee relationship was a powerful force that led to the successful completion of the
dissertation paper.
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
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
v
literature review, the conception, and the planning of the research methodology for this
dissertation.
vi
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
List of Tables x
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1
Research Questions 10
Definition of Terms 12
Assumptions 14
Theoretical Framework 15
Introduction 23
Organizational Trust 23
Organizational Performance 29
Job Satisfaction 31
Employee Empowerment 37
vii
Low Trust and High Trust Organizations 42
Definition of Terms 49
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 61
Introduction 61
Research Questions 66
Data Analysis 71
Summary 75
Introduction 78
Data Description 78
Categorical Analysis 87
viii
Data Analysis 87
Summary 105
Introduction 108
Discussion 120
Recommendations 130
Conclusions 135
REFERENCES 139
ix
List of Tables
x
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
xi
List of Figures
xii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
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
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
trust in companies has never been lower in the post-Enron organizational scandal (Watson,
2005). Trust facilitates individual and organizational learning; however, organizations often
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
1
Laschinger, Finegan, & Shamian, 2001). Trust was shown to significantly influence
trust, the trust gap between managers and employees was steadily increasing (Jeanquart-
Barone, 1993).
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
Organizations that see the value of their employees create a culture of mutual trust
organizations are known as high performance organizations (Phillips, 1997). Trust inside
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
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
2
organization, and it can play a key role in explaining employees’ attitudes and behaviors at
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.
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,
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-
3
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).
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
(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
4
strive to do their best as well as constantly to seek innovative ways to improve their
Conditions of trust within an organization impact organizational health (Thoms et al., 2002).
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
5
the U.S. federal workforce, contributing factors that may lead to an increase in job
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
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
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,
6
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
proud of their work and their organization. In addition to trust, job satisfaction is viewed as
satisfaction is one of the most widely researched yet least understood phenomena in
Herzberg’s 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
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
especially during times of rapid change. According to Zauderer (2002), one of the highest
7
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
performance (Zauderer).
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
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
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
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.
(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
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
managers great opportunities for promoting mutual trust among organizational members and
9
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
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
Who entered the civil service often find themselves trapped in a maze of rules and
regulations 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
10
Protection Board’s newsletter (2005), U.S. federal employees are likely satisfied with their
job because they think that their agencies make good use of their skills and abilities.
Trust does matter. Research indicates “that organizations with high levels of trust will
be more successful, adaptive, an innovative than organizations with low levels of trust or
pervasive distrust” (Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Winograd, 2000, p. 6). Argyris explained,
“defense routines may stand in the way of an individual’s learning, especially when the
losing his or her job” (as cited in Adams, 2004, p. 8). Argyris further pointed out that
organizational leaders often feel defensive about low levels of trust in their organizations,
and they may be reluctant to explore trust levels in their organizations or to consider
investing in trust interventions. They may even fear that low levels of trust could be viewed
behaviors which can hinder their own learning (as cited in Adams).
internal and external processes and activities that provide organizations with competitive
advantage. Organizations that have a strong climate of internal trust and those who easily
develop trusting relationships with external partners perform better than organizations with
lower level of trust. High performance organizations have a high level of trust among
coworkers as well as among management, and they empower their employees. Without trust,
people assume self-protective, defensive postures that inhibit learning (Costigan et al., 1998).
by providing a broad picture of a wide range of variables affecting organizational trust and
11
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. Pearson’s chi-square tests were employed to explore
the association among various dimensions of organizational trust and job satisfaction.
Wherever the responders’ responses varied significantly, Pearson’s chi-square tests were
(supervisor/nonsupervisor) and the scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and
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).
128
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
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
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, and strongly 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
supervisors and nonsupervisors were found on the question, “communications seem good
within their organization” and, on the question, “top management listens to employees’
129
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
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.
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.
130
Since 1978, both the OPM and the U.S. Merits System Protection Board conducted
numerous studies but trust has not been studied. Although job satisfaction was studied, the
relation between organizational trust and job satisfaction was not studied. In June 2006, the
OPM conducted the 2006 Human Capital Survey, which started 1 week before this research
study was ended; but again, organizational trust was not studied. This signaled a possible
problem in obtaining a good response rate for the study due to the nature of the research, the
sensitivity of the research topic, and the 2006 OPM’s Human Capital Survey that was
Only 7.5% response rate was received (n = 74) by the end of the 6-week data
collection phase. The response rate was very discouraging; however, selecting other federal
agencies in hope of increasing the survey response rate was not a viable option due to other
ongoing federal organizational surveys, the nature of the U.S. federal organizational culture
and structure, agency internal/office rules and guidelines, and conflicting performance
priorities, workload and deadlines facing federal executives, managers and employees. The
OPM had no authority to endorse an independent study but left the decision to support (or not
The decision not to expand the data collection timetable and not to add new federal
agencies to the existing sampling pool was due to the belief that the final outcome would be
unchanged, given some known factors: (a) aiming for a higher survey response rate seemed
unrealistic for any independent studies in federal agencies, (b) federal security and privacy
issues associated with the implementation of the Federal Information Security Management
Act, (c) ongoing federal sponsored organizational surveys, (d) workload issues associated
131
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
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
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
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
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
132
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
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
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
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
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
133
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
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
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 person’s
requirement for building mutual trust in which extraordinary performance and job
134
satisfaction can survive and thrive. The study indicated a significant difference in attitudes
seem good within the organization” and what “top management listens to employees’
concerns” really mean. The differences in interpretation of one’s 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
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 House’s strategic human capital management initiative, organizational trust and job
135
satisfaction may become increasingly crucial if organizations want to motivate and retain
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
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
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
136
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
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
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
order to maintain competitiveness and to recognize the development stage of the organization
gaining respect, trust, and confidence of others, and transforming a strong sense of mission to
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
137
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
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.
138
REFERENCES
Adams, S. H. (2004). The relationships among adult attachment, general self-disclosure, and
perceived organizational trust. Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and 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.
Aronson, D. (2002). Managing the diversity revolution: Best practices for 21st century
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.
Bennett, R. H., III, Harriman, J. H. P., & Dunn, G. (1999). Today’s 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: An
empirical 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.
139
Buckingham, M., & Vosburgh, R. M. (2001). The 21st century human resources function: It’s
the talent, stupid! Identifying and developing talent, one person at a time, becomes
our defining challenge. Human Resource Planning, 24(4), 1-7.
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.
Cook, J., & Wall, T. (1980). New work attitude measures of trust, organizational
commitment 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 in
organizations. Journal of Managerial Issues, 10(3), 1-14.
Costigan, R. D., Insinga, R. C., Kranas, G., Kureshov, V. A., & Ilter, S. S. (2004). Predictors
of employee trust of their CEO: A three-country study. Journal of Managerial Issues,
16(2), 1-21.
Culbert, S. A., & McDonough, J. J. (1986). The politics of trust and organization
empowerment. Public Administration Quarterly, 10(2), 1-18.
140
Diversity Central. (n.d.). Entrants to the workforce. Retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://
www.diversityhotwire.com/business/entrants
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.
Flores, F., & Solomon, R. C. (2003). Building trust: In business, politics, relationships, and
life. New York: Oxford University Press.
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 in
the 21st century: Benefits, issues, and a leadership model which will work. Journal of
Leadership Studies, 8(4), 1-14.
Gill, R., Levine, N., & Pitt, D. C. (1998). Leadership and organizations for the new
millennium. Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(4), 1-16.
141
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 of
Business Communication, 37(4), 1-19.
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.
Harris, K. J. (2004). What you don’t know can’t hurt you: The interactive relationship
between leader-member exchange and perceptions of politics on job satisfaction.
Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 188-203
Haskins, W. A. (1996). Freedom of speech: construct for creating a culture which empowers
organizational 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. Administrative
Science 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.
142
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.
Kim, S. (2002). Participative management and job satisfaction: Lessons for management
leadership. Public Administration Review, 62(2), 1-23.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge (3rd ed.). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
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.
143
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.
Meyer, G. D., Powell, K. S., & Tucker, M. L. (1995). Qualitative research in business
communication: A review and analysis. The Journal of Business Communication,
32(4), 383.
Mitchell, R. C., & Rossmoore, D. (2001). Why good leaders can’t use good advice. Journal
of 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 of
International Business Studies, 30(1), 1-14.
Moore, M. (2000). High performance work system. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from
http://www.msu.edu
Mulvey, J., & Li, A. (December 2000). The impact of workforce characteristics on turnover
rates. Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 1-12.
144
New rankings show government is a better place to work today: Employee satisfaction is up
in 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: Presenting
differing 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 growth
of 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 in
2005. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from www.ourpublicservice.org/research/
research_show.htm
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. Journal
of Public Administration Research and Theory, 12(3), 377.
Posner, B. Z., & Schmidt, W. H. (1996). The values of business and federal government
executives: More different than alike. Public Personnel Management, 25(3), 1-13.
Potok, N. F. (2002). Leading transformation: Views on the President’s agenda: What key
presenters had to say about current federal management directions at the association
of government accountants’ annual leadership conference. The Public Manager,
31(1), 1-5.
145
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 Advanced
Management Journal, 62(2), 1-8.
Rejai, M., & Phillips, K. (1998). Comparing leaders: An interactional theory. Journal of
Leadership 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 (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Robbins, S. P. (2003b). Organizational behavior (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Robson, C. (2003). Real world research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner-
researchers (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
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.
146
Seligman, A. B. (1997). The problem of trust. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
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.
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.
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.
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
147
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 21st century: Results of the merit principles survey
2000. 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 of
merit: Understanding job satisfaction. Retrieved February 12, 2006, from http://www
.mspb.gov/studies/newsletters/05septnws/05Sept. 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 and
Economic Review, 43(1), 1-9.
Vicere, A. A. (1992). The strategic leadership imperative for executive development. Human
Resource Planning, 15(1), 1-18.
Walker, J. W. (2001). Human capital: Beyond HR? Hr. Human Resource Planning, 24(2), 1-
4.
Weiskittel, P. (1999). The concept of leadership. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 26(5), 467-
536.
Wofford, J. C. (1994). Getting inside the leader’s head: A cognitive processes approach to
leadership. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 59(3), 1-10.
148
Yammarino, F. J., & Dubinsky, A. J. (1994). Transformational leadership theory: Using
levels of analysis to determine boundary conditions. Personnel Psychology, 47(4), 1-
24.
Zauderer, D. G. (2002). Workplace incivility and the management of human capital: How to
build a community where people feel included, welcomed, and work together with
mutual respect to enhance individual and organizational productivity. The Public
Manager, 31(1), 1-14.
Zauderer, D. G., & Ridgway, D. M. (2003). Mastering the art of public leadership: The
Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Policy Education has initiated an innovative
training program that may sow the seeds for a change in federal government culture
through its first cohort of emerging leaders. The Public Manager, 32(3), 1-10.
149
APPENDIX A
ORGANIZATIONAL 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 your
agency.
150
9. I am highly satisfied with the overall quality of the products and/or services of the
organization.
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
19. I receive adequate information regarding how my job-related problems are handled.
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
151
23. My immediate supervisor keeps his/her commitments to team members.
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
28. I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do.
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
152
35. I sometimes feel my job is meaningless.
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
40. The benefits we receive are as good as most other organizations offer.
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
46. I feel unappreciated by the organization when I think about what they pay me.
1 2 3 4 5
47. People get ahead as fast here as they do in other places.
1 2 3 4 5
153
50. There are few rewards for those who work here.
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
59. I don’t feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be.
1 2 3 4 5
154
Demographics
155
Comments__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
156
APPENDIX B
BALANCED 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.
6. Lead by example.
157