Opinions expressed by entrepreneurs’ colleagues are their very own.
Asian entrepreneurs have gone far. Entrepreneurship professor at Imperial College Business School, Mike Wright, wrote in 2018 (*5*)The way forward for international markets It will probably be shaped “in a considerable part” by the primary family firms in Asia.
This development is a considerable feat when you see Asian business and management report It was stated that most entrepreneurs in Asian countries come from low -income families compared to Western countries, in which many entrepreneurs come from the middle and wealthy environment.
But perhaps due to these socio -economic differences between East and West, in addition to different cultural differences, there are unique pressure with which Asian entrepreneurs encounter when it comes to business performance.
As Fourth generation entrepreneur From one of the largest family businesses in Hong Kong, I personally witnessed many mental health challenges, which might come from Asian business landscapes, in which failure is highly stigmatized. On the contrary, I personally think that my defeats have taught me the most respected lessons that will help me turn out to be a business leader and philanthropist I’m today.
To help navigate with the pressure of business success in Asia, here are five things that you wish to know about mental health challenges Asian entrepreneurs:
1. The burden of depression
According to the World Health Organization, many Asian entrepreneurs suffer from depression and are not alone in this, because it is widely considered to be the commonest state of mental health affecting the world. However, while one in 4 employees around the world report burnout symptoms, almost one in three people on the Asian working force report burnout, according to McKinsey report.
Symptoms of depression are also almost twice as high as the global average among the Asian labor force (41% of respondents compared to the average global 21), which also means that these symptoms often also include managerial positions. According to Journal of Business VenturingIN studies They showed that entrepreneurs experience an even higher level of depression compared to non -entrepreneurs.
2. Long working hours
Asian countries have a working culture, which may be harmful to the mental health of entrepreneurs, and surveys confirm that the region has The longest working hours in the world. For example, Singapore is notorious workaholic, because employees reported inside 44 hours of labor a week, with just 14 days on vacation. According to this, combined with the fact that one -third of entrepreneurs often work over 50 hours a week, according to Alternative boardThe survey shows us that Asian entrepreneurs work more often than their Western contemporary.
3. Lack of flexibility
AND test He studies nearly 2,500 HR leaders around the world showed that Asian business cultures offer less flexible arrangements for work in their firms compared to the global average, with almost 30% of respondents claim that firms do not have a plan to offer flexibility in the future. Even if entrepreneurs want to run firms more flexibly, there is often a fear that they’ll not have the opportunity to compete with other entrepreneurs who are perceived as a success with more stringent work principles.
In addition, many Asian firms are owned by family, with strategies often used for firms with a long -term time horizon. This means that younger leaders could also be less incentives to change the current ways of conducting business, with many of their older generations and business founders are resistant to changes.
4. intimidation in the workplace
According to most Asian countries, there is a high degree of intimidation report Posted by scientists from the University of Nottingham and the University of Puerto Rico. The survey conducted by scientists showed that 95% of 65 experts from 10 Asian countries conducted interviews with persecution and harassment in the workplace as a problem in their countries.
Other test Of the 12,000 employees in South Korea, conducted by the Psychiatry Department of the Hospital Kangbuk Samsung, showed that depression indicators were higher for employees suffering from intimidation in the workplace. In addition, men’s mental health suffers more because of those effects than women.
5. Lack of mental health support
While challenges related to conducting activities in Asia may cause stress, which leads to many challenges related to mental health, one of the biggest challenges is the fact that people suffering will often be alone without a way to support. The Singapore Association of Small & Medium Enterprises report shows that 86.5% Singapurians in employment are not looking for help for bad mental health because of the social stigma associated with it. Similarly, an Asian entrepreneur is also more likely that the victim will fall on this because of the cultures in which they operate.
That is why the time has come for Asian firms to take these challenges seriously and put mental health on the front of the mind. As with many things in life, positive mental health is crucial, striving for success in the business world, because the alternative is the long and slow strategy of burnout and exhaustion.