Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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aspects are enquired about: 1) mutual trust between employees and 2) selfishness
or self-centredness among them. Both these topics are aimed at finding
out the extent to which trust and solidarity exists between colleagues at workplaces
in the countries under study.
The modern sociopolitical debate concerning social capital is often based on
the concept of trust (cf. Ilmonen 2000). Trust often develops gradually, and it
cannot be purchased like a commodity. This being so, the ”trust situation” at
workplaces often tells a lot about their culture. Development of trust-based
relations facilitates cooperation (Mishra 1996) - which, in its turn, tends to
increase trust. In this sense, trust means reciprocity of expectations (Ilmonen
et al. 1998). In today's network-type operating environment, well-functioning
relationships of cooperation are even more important than before.
In all the Baltic nations, a majority of the working people considered that they
could trust their work colleagues at least to some extent. In this regard, Estonia
and Latvia were very close to each other and their situation would appear to be
considerably better than that of Lithuania. In both Estonia and Latvia, about
two-thirds felt trust toward their colleagues; while in Lithuania, half thought
that way. At the same time in Lithuania, about one out of five working people
felt distrust; the rest (29%) were unable to answer the question or did not feel
trust any more than distrust.
The same topic was investigated in the previous working life barometer, too. It
is interesting to note that the situation has not improved in any of the countries
in the last few years. In Latvia, and particularly in Lithuania, trust relations at
the workplaces have definitely weakened; and in Estonia, the situation has not
changed one way or the other.