Millennials' Expectation of Trust for Supervisors and Coworkers in the Workplace

Abstract

Trust has been studied as a significant factor to facilitate organizational communication and outcomes for both individuals and organizations. The purpose of this study was to explore trust in organizational relationships, focusing on Millennials, the most recent generation to enter the workplace. This study investigated 98 Millennial college students at a large Midwestern university, examining their overall propensity to trust, expectations of trust for supervisors and coworkers in their future workplaces, and the degree of formality they expect to encounter in workplace relationships. Findings indicated the participants had higher levels of expectations for trust in workplace relationships than trust in general. Furthermore, they expected to have higher degrees of trust and formality for supervisors than for coworkers. This empirical research contributes to a better understanding of Millennials, who will represent a significant proportion of the workplace population in coming years.