The issue of trust in all organisations was discusssed last week by Murray Clarke, principal lecturer in Organization Behaviour and research methodology during his address as guest speaker at the Medtronic sponsored CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development ) evening.
As a result of his research Mr Clarke has found that trust can be broken down into three main areas, Personal Trust - between an employee and his/her manager, Strategic trust – this describes the trust between an employee and a company’s overall strategy and objectives and Organisational trust – the trust that exists between an employee and the Organisation as a whole. In his talk, Mr Clarke brought home the importance of trust within organisations today and how having a ‘high trust’ culture can lead to a highly committed workforce.
He spoke of the value of building trust within organizations, however for leaders and managers today trust building is often problematic. In his research Murray has identified perceptions of ability, integrity, fairness, and openness as key determinants of trust.
He himself gave a thoroughly engaging and interactive talk giving the audience a slightly alternative view of management styles, likening them to different members of the animal kingdom.
Mr Clarke likened a coercive and controlling manager to that of the mandrill, a member of the baboon family, this management style does not promote trust and respect but is instead coercive and controlling. He described a more nurturing, caring management style to that of the elephant. In the animal kingdom elephant herds are based on a matriarchal society consisting only of females. This type of management style is benevolent and fair promoting loyalty and resulting in a high trust workforce.
He has undertaken and published research mainly in the areas of trust and leadership and has recently co-authored a book on dilemmas of leadership. The feedback from the event was very positive with a large turnout on the evening.
On the evening, Dorothy Kelly (HR director Medtronic ) spoke of the long standing relationship Medtronic enjoys with Sheffield Hallam University where Mr Clarke is currently leader of the DBA programme in the Faculty of Organization and Management.
CIPD Chairperson Jacqueline O’Dowd echoed her sentiments and highlighted how delighted the CIPD Western Region are to have welcomed the Sheffield Hallam Masters programme to Galway – the first cohort of the M Sc in HRM and Leadership held outside of Dublin commenced in Galway in September 2008.
. Both CIPD and Medtronic were delighted to welcome such a prestigious speaker on the topic of 'Trust and Leadership' and CIPD Chairperson Jacqueline O’Dowd thanked Medtronic for hosting this event. To conclude the evening the she thanked Murray Clark for a very informative presentation and a gift was presented to Murray Clark by Dorothy Kelly. Ms O’Dowd thanked the CIPD committee and members of the HR Department of Medtronic for organising such a successful event.
