According to a global survey of 6,000 businesses conducted for the most recent Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), 2011 stress levels among business leaders around the world showed their lowest annual increase since 2005—except in Canada.
In 2010, 45% of business leaders surveyed reported an increase in stress levels over the previous 12 months, but this fell to just 28% in 2011. In the U.S., 20% of business leaders cited an increase in stress in 2011, compared with 36% in 2010. In Asia Pacific, the most stressed region, 44% reported an increase, down from 58% in 2010. Even in economically distressed Europe, the stress increase has declined from 40% in 2010 to 22% this year.
Bucking the trend, research shows that 18% of those surveyed in Canada report an increase in stress levels, slightly higher than last year (16%). But this is still well below historical levels (such as 2007, when net 29% reported an increase in stress).
“As the economic crisis has continued, the majority of business leaders have learned to better manage the challenges they are facing, including dealing with stress by adjusting to more realistic performance measures and goals,” said Ed Nusbaum, CEO of Grant Thornton International. “What we are seeing from our clients across the globe is more effective management of this economic volatility and uncertainty. Businesses have also learned to analyze risks better, factoring them into their performance, and are setting themselves more realistic targets. And, of course, some businesses are faring well despite the bleak economic backdrop.”
The IBR indicates that reaching performance targets is by far the biggest headache for businesses—globally, 30% of business leaders cite it as the major cause of workplace stress, and it is ranked highest in 37 of the 40 economies covered by the survey (with Canada at 28%). Stress caused by the volume of communications (11% globally and 9% in Canada), office politics (11% globally and 16% in Canada) and work/life balance (9% both globally and in Canada) are much less cited.
“These numbers show an encouraging pattern, and there are things that can be done by growing businesses—and businesses that want to grow—to reduce stress even more,” said Bill Brushett, National Client Services Partner, Grant Thornton LLP in Canada. “Employee engagement is an important engine to a growing company, and we are finding that many businesses are now recognizing and reacting to the increased expectations on employees given the global economy. Many are, at the same time, instituting helpful programs like flexible work arrangements or secondments in other regions.”
The IBR indicates that just 42% of business leaders take a holiday to relieve stress despite a clear correlation between the number of vacation days taken by business leaders and their levels of stress. Canada does much better at 58%. Those countries where businesses take the fewest vacation days—such as Japan, mainland China and Thailand—report the biggest increases in stress. Conversely, business leaders in the Netherlands, Russia and Denmark took the most days off in 2011 and reported the lowest increases in stress.