Enhancing performance : Bringing trust commitment and motivation together in organisations

Abstract

This paper analyses the concepts of trust, commitment, motivation and performance. In specific terms, the authors ascertain what are the key components of trust in the workplace. The paper provides a deeper understanding of the value of the relational construct trust to organisational motivation and performance. A global multinational firm was surveyed to confirm the Morgan Hunt (1994) Commitment-Trust theory, that trust is an antecedent to commitment. The authors then develop and test a revised performance model that is based on the work of Maier (1955) and Mayer et al (1995). This second survey, which sampled a range of multinational organisations, sought Human Resource managers' opinions on both specific motivational influences in the workplace and specific performance factors in the workplace. The results confirm that all aspects of the construct trust tested in this paper have a significant impact on motivation and performance. In affirming this, the article concludes by proposing refinements to Maiers's (1955) existing performance model, which will assist management in trust building and also provide management with a deeper understanding of the importance of trust and motivation in organisational performance.