The Relationship between Organizational Trust and Stress in Tourism Enterprises: The Case of Kitchen Department Employees

Abstract

Employees play a crucial role in the quality of services in tourism sector, which has been considered as a labor-intensive sector. Within this context, sustainable organizational trust is required for successful teamwork in tourism enterprises. Another factor that should be prioritized in increasing the productivity of the employees is the attempt to decrease organizational stress. This study tests the relationship between organizational trust and organization stress from the perspective of the employees working in the kitchen of the tourism enterprises that operate in food and beverage sector. Between July and August 2016, data was obtained by conducting a survey on 243 employees working in cuisine department of the touristic enterprises that operate in Safranbolu and Amasra districts, which are important destinations for both the domestic and foreign tourists, and located in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey. Data within the context of the relationship between organizational trust (trust in friends and the organization) and organizational stress (individual, organizational) was analyzed by using percentage, frequency, T-test for independent samples, single direction variation analysis, Tukey’s test and correlation analysis. The study found negative and meaningful relationship between the opinions of the employees working in the cuisine department on organizational trust and their levels of organizational stress (r=0,242; p=0,000). The finding indicates that an attempt to increase the organizational trust levels of the employees working in the cuisine department will result with a 24.2% decrease in the organizational stress levels of these employees.