Trust and Organizational Capacity for Change

Trust is recognized as being an important factor that enables the quality of working life in organizations. Trust is identified as an important leadership and management competency helping organizations navigate the change management process. The effectiveness of an organization s capacity for change is closely associated with the degree of trust within an organizational workplace. This study takes an empirical approach exploring trust-building and trust-breaking behaviours, and the capacity for change in an organizational context, that being Bell Canada. Two survey instruments, merged into one, were carried out at Bell Canada s Secure Channel Operations and Delivery program sector to find out if there is a correlation between trust variables and the capacity for change. The survey findings demonstrate there is a definite correlation between these variables. Moreover, regression analyses demonstrate that competence trust behaviours are a strong predictor for an organization s capacity for change.

Autorentext

Margaret M. Rudolf, PhD, completed a 30-year career in senior management with the federal government of Canada. Her work experience ranges from advising Cabinet Ministers on communications change issues, to managing complex transformational projects in a number of large organizations. A Montreal native, Margaret is multilingual and works globally.