Other economies that featured high in the stress league table were Mexico (74%), Turkey (72%), Vietnam (72%) and Greece (68%). At the opposite end of the scale business owners in Sweden (23%), Denmark (25%), Finland (33%) and Australia (35%) have the lowest stress levels in the world.
Overall business leaders in the Asia Pacific region are the most stressed in 2010 with 65% indicating their levels of stress have increased or increased significantly compared to one year ago. However, business leaders in Thailand have the second lowest increased stress level in Asia with only 40% feeling an increase.
Ian Pascoe, Managing Partner of Grant Thornton in Thailand, comments, “Generally, Thai businesses have much lower debt levels than in other economies. This, coupled with the world forecast economic growth of over 3%, is most likely the reason for the lower increased stress level of Thai business leaders.”
There appears to be a link between stress levels and GDP. Business owners in mainland China, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Turkey all feature high on the stress league table and are working in environments where high growth is expected. But it's not just in countries expecting high growth that stress levels are high - at the opposite end of the growth scale Ireland, Spain and Greece all feature high on the league table. Said Alex MacBeath, global leader - markets at Grant Thornton International, "We have businesses at both ends of the GDP growth scale experiencing high stress for very different reasons. In mainland China the pressure is on to keep up with the pace of expansion while in Ireland, for example, the economy is retracting and business owners are worried about how they will keep their business alive."
Business owners were asked about the major causes of workplace stress. Not surprisingly, the most common cause during 2009 was the economic climate with 38% of respondents globally citing this as one of their major causes of stress. This was followed by pressure on cash flow (26%), competitor activities (21%) and heavy workload (19%). Alex MacBeath comments, "The causes of workplace stress can be categorised into three distinct groups - economic, business and personal. Business owners feel pressures from all sides so while an employee may place more importance on personal elements such as their work/life balance, the business owner has additional pressures to consider."
The survey also found a correlation between stress levels and the number of days off taken by an individual in a year (see figure 2). Countries at the top of the stress league are those where business owners, on average, take fewer holidays each year.
Vietnam, for example, is rated third in the stress league (with 72% of business owners citing increased stress levels during 2009) and at the bottom of the holiday league, with business owners on average taking just 7 days of holiday during the year. There were similar results for mainland China and Mexico. At the opposite end of the scale, business owners in northern Europe (Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) appear at top of the scale for the number of holidays taken each year (between 22 and 24 days) and at the bottom of the stress league table.
Says Alex MacBeath, "Here we have business owners themselves providing robust evidence that those able to take more holidays are less stressed than their counterparts in countries where holidays are less frequent. Our experience of working with PHBs globally shows us that taking the time to step away from the business, to reflect and recharge can help owners to bring a new perspective to their decision making."
About Grant Thornton in Thailand:
Grant Thornton in Thailand is well recognized by the business community as one of the leading professional service firms in Thailand and has been in Thailand since 1991. We helped many clients successfully navigate the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s, applying a mixture of techniques, including debt restructuring, cost cutting and business plan revision. We have also helped many clients realise acquisition and expansion opportunities.
Our services include business consulting, external and internal auditing service, domestic and international tax planning, corporate finance advisory, restructuring and reorganization, merger and acquisition, executive recruitment, succession planning and remuneration planning. To learn more about our firm, please visit our web site: .
Further enquiries, please contact:
Ian Pascoe
Managing Partner
Grant Thornton
T: 02 205 8222
Lakpilai Worasaphya
Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications
Grant Thornton
T: 02 205 8142