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Asian entrepreneurs have come far. A professor of entrepreneurship at the Imperial College Business School, Mike Wright, wrote in 2018 that the future of international markets will likely be shaped, “in no small part,” by Asia’s major family-owned businesses.
This development is no small feat when you see the Asian Business & Management report that concludes that the majority of entrepreneurs in Asian countries have originated from low-income families compared to Western countries, where many entrepreneurs come from middle-class and affluent family backgrounds.
But perhaps due to these socioeconomic differences between East and West, and also the various cultural differences, there are unique pressures that Asian entrepreneurs face when it comes to business performance.
As a fourth-generation entrepreneur of one of the largest family businesses in Hong Kong, I have personally witnessed many mental health challenges that can come from the Asian business landscapes where failure is highly stigmatized. On the contrary, I personally believe that my failures have taught me the most valuable lessons to help me become the business leader and philanthropist I am today.
To help navigate the pressures of business success in Asia, here are five things you need to know about the mental health challenges Asian entrepreneurs can face:
Related: The Untold Truth About Mental Health In The Workplace
1. The weight of depression
Many Asian entrepreneurs suffer from depression, and they are not alone in this as this is widely considered the most common mental health condition affecting the world today, according to the World Health Organization. However, while one in four employees worldwide are reporting symptoms of burnout, nearly one in three people in the Asian workforce are reporting signs of burnout, according to a McKinsey report.
Depression symptoms are also almost double the global average among the Asian workforce (41% of respondents compared to the global average of 21), a trend that also signifies that these symptoms often extend to those in leadership positions, too. According to the Journal of Business Venturing, studies have shown that entrepreneurs experience even higher levels of depression compared to non-entrepreneurs.
2. Long working hours
Asian countries have a culture of overworking, which can be detrimental to entrepreneurs’ mental health, with surveys confirming that the region has the longest working hours in the world. Singapore, for instance, is notoriously workaholic, as workers have been reported to clock in 44 hours of work per week, with only 14 days in annual leave. This, combined with the fact that a third of entrepreneurs generally work over 50 hours a week, according to The Alternative Board‘s survey, shows us that Asian entrepreneurs are more likely to work longer hours than their Western contemporaries.
Related: Late Hours, Lack of Leave Can Be Damaging to Your Mental Health, CDC Study Says
3. Lack of flexibility
A study surveying close to 2,500 HR leaders worldwide found that Asian business cultures offer less flexible working arrangements within their businesses compared to the global average, with close to 30% of respondents saying that businesses have no plan to offer flexibility in the future. Even if entrepreneurs want to operate businesses more flexibly, there is usually a fear of not being able to compete with other entrepreneurs who are perceived to be succeeding with more stringent work policies.
Also, many Asian businesses are family-owned, with strategies that are often applied to companies with a longer-term time horizon. This means that there might be fewer incentives for younger leaders to change current ways of operating a business, with many of their older generations and business founders being resistant to change.
4. Workplace bullying
There is a high degree of workplace bullying in most Asian countries, according to a report published by researchers from the University of Nottingham and the University of Puerto Rico. A survey the researchers conducted found that 95% of 65 experts from 10 Asian countries interviewed voiced bullying and workplace harassment as a concern in their respective countries.
Another study of 12,000 employees in South Korea, conducted by Kangbuk Samsung Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry, showed that depression rates were higher for employees who suffered from workplace bullying. Moreover, men’s mental health was seen to suffer more from these effects than women’s.
Related: Effectively Addressing A Workplace Bully
5. Lack of mental health support
While the challenges of running a business in Asia may be stress-inducing, leading to a host of mental health challenges, one of the biggest challenges is actually the fact that sufferers will often be on their own without an avenue for support. A report by Singapore’s Association of Small & Medium Enterprises shows that 86.5% of Singaporeans in employment do not seek help for poor mental health because of the social stigma attached to it. Similarly, an Asian entrepreneur is also more likely to fall prey to this due to the success-driven cultures they are operating within.
This is why now is the time for Asian businesses to take these challenges seriously and place mental health at the front of their minds. As with a lot of things in life, positive mental health is crucial when aiming for success in the business world, as the alternative is a long and slow process of burnout and exhaustion.
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William Louey