Managing Daily Finances On a Budget?
A daily money manager might fit the bill
A daily money manager can help you with common financial tasks such as paying bills and readying tax documents. --
Imagine having someone who makes sure your bills are paid on time, organizes your tax documents and hands them off to your accountant, and even follows up with your insurance company because you were supposed to be reimbursed for physical therapy.
Sounds too good to be true?
It turns out, you don't have to be wealthy to hire a trusted professional to take care of these kitchen-table money issues for you. Engaging a daily money manager (also known as a DMM) can be a cost-effective way of making sure your financial life is in order.
What is a daily money manager?
A DMM is a professional who helps people with their personal household finances. "We are different from bookkeepers and accountants," says Alison Salisbury, a board member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) and the founder of Fiscally Fit, a daily-money-management company in Mountain View, Calif. "We manage a broad range of services for clients, such as bill pay, bookkeeping, account reconciliation, and we work with health insurance claim forms — everything that comes across your monthly mail that relates to your personal finances," she says.
DMMs have been around for decades. Early on, they worked for wealthy families who may not have had the time or skill to manage their day-to-day finances. But over the past 10 to 15 years, DMMs began working for other segments of the population. Salisbury, who is certified and has been working as a DMM for eight years, says her clients range in age from 30 to 97. "Seniors are the fast-growing segment," she adds.
Why consider working with a DMM?
It's no secret that our cognitive ability to handle our finances diminishes as we age. Older retirees may forget to pay bills, have difficulty grasping financial concepts or become overwhelmed by the paperwork associated with managing their accounts. Any of these issues can make them vulnerable to scammers who target seniors.
Plus, when the spouse who handled the money dies, and the survivor is having trouble remaining independent and managing everyday financial matters, someone needs to step in. Very often family members may not be in a position to help because they are strapped for time or simply live too far away.
Clifton Herndon, 90, said that working with a daily money manager was a game changer. Herndon, of Palo Alto, Calif., hired Salisbury in 2010, after her husband died of Alzheimer's disease. "I was going crazy figuring out who gets what and when," Herndon recalls. "And then Alison came on board and life smoothed out. It made a great deal of difference to me."
Getting help managing daily financial tasks doesn't mean giving up control. In fact, it's intended to be just the opposite and can help an aging person extend control. Many retired individuals who work with DMMs find that it helps them continue to live independently.
Herndon, who typically depends on Salisbury's services for one or two hours a week, agrees: "She keeps track of my bank account and other things I've asked her to do. It makes living independently possible."
"Most people appreciate just knowing there is another set of eyes," says Barbara Boustead, a DMM in Madison, Wis. "They say it's peace of mind that I'm coming and taking care of things."
Boustead, a former licensed clinical social worker with 40 years' experience, launched her DMM business, Mary's Daughter, at age 60, after meticulously organizing her mother's medical, legal and financial documents. "People started referring me by calling me Mary's daughter. So I asked my mom if I could use the name," she explains. In addition to working with older individuals, Boustead provides services to veterans.
What can you expect to pay?
Depending on where you live and the type of services offered, a DMM could cost $75 to $150 an hour. Some charge a monthly retainer instead of an hourly fee.
These experts contend that they pay for themselves by saving their clients money and keeping an eye on their budget.
"A DMM may ask questions like, 'Why are you paying for cable and a phone you don't use?' " Boustead says. "I may call and cut the service or negotiate a rate reduction on their behalf. Double-billed for medication? I'll get on that right away."
There are also unexpected benefits. Along with helping clients get taxes paid on time, balancing their checkbooks or flagging a forgotten life insurance policy, DMMs like Boustead and Salisbury notice if something seems off.
"I am the eyes and ears," Boustead says. She says she can spot if "Mom hasn't been taking medication or she needs someone to come in and help out during the day."
Salisbury and Boustead both recount stories of protecting clients from financial fraud committed by caretakers and family members, who had stolen a credit card or checkbook to buy plane tickets or helped themselves to Grandma's cash.
"Working with a DMM means someone is looking out for you," Salisbury says.
How to find a trusted professional
Currently, there is no government oversight of daily money managers.
A good place to start is by contacting the American Association of Daily Money Managers, the national organization that sets standards of practice for its 700 members, who must abide by a code of ethics.
The association also offers a certification program, continuing education, webinars, and support to individuals and businesses providing daily money management services across the country....
You can also seek referrals for DMMs from estate lawyers, accountants or agencies that assist older consumers. And before hiring one, check with your state attorney general's office and the Better Business Bureau to see if complaints have been filed against the practitioner.
"Not everyone is the right fit for every client," Salisbury cautions.
She recommends you meet several potential DMMs to get a sense of their personality and to find out key information, such as whether the person is a good fit for you or your parents. How is the manager paid and is there a minimum fee or hourly limit? Will the money manager come to your home? Is the manager flexible? Will the manager pay bills the same way as you so you can follow along?
Check out the American Association of Daily Money Managers website for more questions to ask before hiring a manager.
by Lynnette Khalfani-Cox,
When Aging Parents Need Help With Financial Tasks Daily money managers can help with bill paying, budgets and even ward off fraud.
But trust is essential.
Having someone ensure bills are paid on time ‘is a different level of access and services than someone who has signature authority for accounts,’ says the AARP’s Emily Allen.
Aging parents may need help managing daily finances to guard against costly mistakes or elder abuse. But for family members or caregivers, it can be difficult to find a trusted individual to do such work.
So-called daily money managers do everything from pay the bills to manage the mail, budget, fill out forms, organize financial papers and keep track of medical and other insurance claims. Even more important, they can help stave off fraud and abuse by being another set of trusted eyes on mom and dad’s accounts.
In some cases, “having that daily money manager can honestly save people their life savings,” says Emily Allen, vice president for income impact at the AARP Foundation.
Journal ReportMore in Wealth Management
It’s a relatively new field, though, and practitioners come from a variety of backgrounds, as well as with a wide range of experience and areas of expertise. What’s more, because the industry is pretty new, it’s also largely unregulated.
This lack of formal oversight or licensing from a government agency makes it critical for adult children to do plenty of homework before handing over the keys to their parents’ sensitive financial information.
“Consumers must do their checking to make sure that somebody who is purporting to be a daily money manager has the appropriate background, training and references,” says Sheri Samotin, president of LifeBridge Solutions LLC, a Beverly Hills, Calif., firm that offers daily money management and other fiduciary services. “Because at the moment, anybody could hang out a shingle and call themselves a daily money manager.”
Getting started - The simplest way for people to start gathering potential candidates is to “ask people you trust, like an attorney, trusted family member or accountant,” Ms. Samotin says.
In addition, a relatively new professional society—the American Association of Daily Money Managers—is another starting point to consider, according to the AARP Foundation’s Ms. Allen. The national organization, based in Bellefonte, Pa., has more than 800 members, a nearly 60% increase since 2005. Members of the association subscribe to a code of ethics and standards of practice, which require them to disclose any conflicts of interest and respect client’s privacy, among other things.
“If you have somebody who is trying to sell you something and also be your daily money manager, that is a red flag,” says Ms. Samotin, who is a member of the daily managers association. If someone is “recommending you change your insurance, it can be hard to tell if that is really the best thing for you or if he or she just wants a commission,” she says.
While it won’t recommend specific members, the association tries to make it easier for families to identify qualified managers through a voluntary certification process for members. To qualify, applicants must have at least 1,500 hours of paid experience in the past three years, pass a written exam that covers such topics as bookkeeping and tax basics, and undergo a criminal-background check.
To be safe, Ms. Allen also suggests families do background checks on their own and consult the Better Business Bureau about any potential hire. Think about what specific services the elderly client needs and conduct the appropriate due diligence accordingly, she says. Having someone ensure bills are paid on time “is a different level of access and services than someone who has signature authority for accounts.”
“If someone is really incapacitated,” she says, “the risk can be higher because you have [to hire] someone with much more access.”
Other help Sometimes nonprofits or county agencies will offer some kind of daily-money-management services performed by vetted volunteers.
The Pima Council on Aging in Tucson, Ariz., for one, has about 25 volunteers who help older adults with bill paying. The council performs a background check on its volunteers, including fingerprints, and requires three written references, says W. Mark Clark, group president and chief executive. Whoever is eventually hired, Ms. Allen recommends keeping tabs on their work by checking in monthly, perhaps by setting up “view only” access to bank accounts, to make sure there are no irregularities.
Richard Branson:
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BALANCING ACT: Pictured above, Branson in 1998 working from home, building his business.
Mark Greenberg Mediaplanet
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You are consistently posting pictures of your adventures all over the world. With a massive, multifaceted company under your belt, how do you manage to maintain a sense of balance between your work and your personal life?
Richard Branson: It‘s easy to neglect your health and family as you spend time dealing with issues at work. Finding time for yourself may seem just about impossible, but you won’t be able to keep going at 100 miles per hour if you’re running on empty.
I find that technology is a great help—I use phone calendars, email reminders and mobile reminders to maneuver my way to each meeting, event and party. You can also use these things to make sure you have time to eat regularly and that you can get a good sleep.
My family is the center of my life, so wherever I am in the world, when I have a few minutes, I talk to my wife and kids. I used to work from home in order to be with the kids as they grew up. It is possible to spend quality time with the family, while still working hard from outside of the office.
Finding time for aspirational thought is vital. When I am at home on Necker Island, I spend time every day in a hammock with my notebooks and iPad, thinking over new ideas and dreams.
Short breaks can also make a big difference. When things are hectic, I find a good English breakfast cup of tea rejuvenating, and after a long day of business travel and meetings, a hot, relaxing bath can make a big difference.
Exercise is vital, to keep the body as active as the mind (I try to start my days on Necker with a swim around the island or a game of tennis if I can).
MP: Have you always placed a heightened importance on play just as hard as you work, if not harder?
RB: In order to be refreshed and ready for anything, you need to find time for play. You are far more likely to succeed if you are having fun, meeting new people or sharing a joke on Twitter. At Virgin we have always prided ourselves on throwing spectacular parties—it’s great when companies look after their people and celebrate their successes.
ALL SMILES: Between laughs, the business mogul shares, "If a business is good, does good, and makes others feel good, then it creates its own legacy.
MP: As an employer, why do you stress work-life balance for your employees?
RB: Too many companies are too keen to put multitudes of rules and regulations on their staff. Not only does this stifle flexibility, it suggests a lack of confidence in your team to do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible. Give your people freedom to be independent, and your business will reap the rewards.
I truly believe that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business.
We run a range of schemes to help staff keep healthy – fresh fruit is available on a daily basis, we have a flexible working policy and staff can also take part in our Virgin Pulse program which monitors their exercise levels throughout the day.
And last year we introduced unlimited leave for all staff at our head offices Virgin Management and our foundation Virgin Unite. Flexible working has revolutionised how, where and when we all do our jobs. If working nine to five no longer applies, then neither should strict annual vacation policies.
Ultimately, it’s all down to our people and putting trust in them— they are the ones who make me want to come to work every day, and they are the ones who will continue to make Virgin a trusted and successful brand.
MP: In what ways can other employers/organizations encourage a culture of health and wellness?
RB: It’s a lot harder to try and convince people that they’re looking at a good brand, rather than simply being a great one. I suggest the following:
RB: First and foremost, I believe in flexible working. It is important that employers appreciate their employees’ work-life balance and give them the flexibility to work around their personal lives. We have embraced flexible working since 2013 and allowed our people to work from home or remotely and stagger their working hours if they wish to. We trust our employees to work from wherever and whenever they like as long as they get their work done on time and to a high level, and other Virgin companies may decide to follow in the future.
I also support unlimited leave: In my book, I talked about how we were introducing an unlimited vacation policy, which is currently applicable to the 170 people at Virgin’s headquarters, Virgin Management and our not-for-profit foundation Virgin Unite. This allows our people to take as much vacation as they feel they need each year, as long as they take a minimum amount of vacation to ensure they are getting time to rest and recharge. This gives our staff the flexibility to take more vacation time than previously possible, for example during a special year when somebody gets married.
Employee well-being is key. At Virgin we believe that if you look after your staff first the rest will follow, a happy workforce is a healthier workforce. At Virgin we have a health and well-being program called Virgin Pulse, it’s just one way we are trying to help our workforce lead a healthy lifestyle. Virgin Pulse is a fun way to monitor levels of exercise throughout the day, not only does this help companies support the health and wellness of their employees but it also creates a create culture at work where employees are engaged and performing at their peak.
STAFF, editorial@mediaplanet.com
3 Benefits of Workplace Flexibility
Many employees telecommute to avoid office politics and stressful commutes.
U.S.News
Sep 11th 2015 9:07AM
By Hannah Morgan
Do you want to improve your work-life balance, save time and reduce the stress from commuting? Who doesn't? The one answer to achieving these results is right under your nose, and it won't cost you or your employer a dime to initiate.
Today's workplace is incredibly demanding. Companies haven't been replacing laid off employees, leaving the remaining employees to pick up the pieces. This created discontent, disengagement and disconnect or mass exiting. Now, employers are finally concerned about acquiring and retaining talent. As a result, many are making changes to how and when employees report to work.
Search Jobs
The FlexJobs fourth annual Super Study contains important takeaways for employers and employees. Responses from more than 2,600 survey participants, across all age brackets, indicate employees are looking for greater work flexibility. Companies serious about attracting and retaining a productive workforce are listening. Job seekers and employees, take note: You are likely to see changes coming to a company near you. Here are some of the benefits:
Loyalty. What is one thing that would make you more devoted to your current employer? Flexible work options would make 82 percent of the survey's respondents more loyal. So what are flexible work options? This could mean working remotely, telecommuting some of the time, part-time or freelance work or an alternative work schedule. Loyalty makes for better employees who go above and beyond. Companies may not be able to put a price tag on loyalty, but they know it when they see it. It's a win-win for employees and employers.
Quality of life. What would positively impact your quality of life? Ninety-seven percent of study participants reported that a job with flexibility would do the trick. Working a job with a flexible work schedule would lower stress levels, according to 87 percent of respondents, and more than three-quarters of them believe it would make them more healthy.
Productivity. If you really needed to complete a project, where would you work? Seventy-six percent of workers avoid the office for important tasks, according to the survey. Half said working from home is a better option, because it eliminates distractions and interruptions from colleagues. Additional reasons to want to work away from the office include minimizing office politics and stress associated from commuting. And others report working from a home office is more comfortable.
How to lobby for more flexibility at your job:
If you are no longer in love with your current job, perhaps you can rekindle your affection for your work and employer by investigating the possibility of a flexible work schedule.
Dig through your employee handbook for any formal policies on work schedules. There may be company standards you should know about. But also bear in mind that there may be exceptions. In other instances, companies may leave work scheduling up to the individual managers.
Next, ask around to see if anyone in your company is working an alternative schedule. Ask the employee about how his or her manager views the quality of his or her work, how other team members feel about the situation and how your colleague negotiated an alternative work schedule. If this doesn't apply to anyone working in your company, ask these same questions of anyone you know who works a nontraditional schedule.
Finally, plan the conversation you intend to have with your manager. Start by laying out the productivity benefits for your manager and the company. In other words, explain in quantifiable terms how you will be more productive. Be prepared to overcome any objections from your manager.
Remember: Your conversation is a negotiation, not an ultimatum. Let your manager process your suggestion and, if necessary, resume the conversation later. If you don't win the negotiation, you really haven't lost anything. In fact, your conversation may pave the way for your manager to adopt new guidelines in the future. Instead of waiting for change to occur at your company, this may be the impetus for you to begin looking for a new job elsewhere.
A final point: Be wary of work-from-home scams you see promoted on websites, and never put down your own money to get started. Instead, ask around, and look for employers who have a track record of allowing employees to work alternative schedules. FlexJobs lists both companies known to be flex-friendly and legitimate jobs.
The Case Against Full-Time Employees
Aug 19, 2015
"A lot of people are convinced that a lot of people should be paid a lot less, but I'm pretty sure everyone I've ever met thinks they should be paid a lot more. A lot of people are going to end up unhappy."
~ My buddy Dan
"Gig jobs" - the newest term for the employment of freelancers or independent contractors - are invoking a lot of discussion these days. Companies like Lyft, TaskRabbit, Upwork and many others are frequently criticized for providing services delivered by independent (or even unlicensed) contractors. Some journalists are raising terrifying claims about how the sky is falling because "full-time employment is dying and soon we'll all be obsolete". It's as if by 2020 we will be out on the street, penniless and begging a parasol-carrying bourgeois couple to let us run them across town in a rickshaw so we can earn a few tuppence for tonight's pudding.
A lot of people are buying into the fearmongering. They shouldn't.
The debate even seems to be impacting employment models of companies that probably should be using a lot of independent contractors: Shyp recently made the risky - and costly - decision to hire its delivery workers as full time employees; it feels like AirBnB - whose owner-hosts certainly don't pay employment taxes - is being sued in every city it operates; Sprig and Blue Apron must face the dilemma of do we hire full time people or do we pay contractors piecemeal?; Gravity Payments finds itself in an odd situation after guaranteeinggreat minimum salaries for all its full-time employees, a choice that appears to be costing it more than just money; and Zirtual shut down at least in part because it hired full-time employees...and hopes to relaunch using independent contractors.
Hotels hate AirBnB. Taxis hate SnapCar. Trains hate BlaBlaCar. Restaurants hate Sprig. Cleaning services hate TaskRabbit. This hate and debate - about an employment model that disrupts or destroys entrenched businesses - is increasingly focused on the use of independent contractors.
I'm caught in the middle. As a consumer, but also founder of a company that has created or contributed to the development of several thousand independent contractor jobs in Paris, I want to explain why "gig economy jobs" will continue to comprise an outsized percentage of global jobs growth in the coming years.
Many jobs - particularly highly-skilled or managerial ones - will continue to be better served by full-time employees than by contractors. There is no question full-time jobs will remain the preferred employment model for a majority of employers and workers alike. Every company needs dedicated resources that focus all their work energy on a single set of responsibilities. You can't run and grow a company if you don't have dedicated workers, and by definition independent contractors are free to work for anyone they wish.
But at the most basic level gig economy jobs are exploding because there weren't enough of them in the first place. This new employment paradigm demonstrates that for certain types of jobs there are more efficient ways of allocating resources, leading to better services for customers, more money for contractors, and indirect benefits to consumers because of productivity boosts to economies.
In the past, the complexity/impossibility of resource pooling made it too hard for most companies to use independent contractors on any large scale, even though many could really have benefited from doing so. So consumers paid more than we should have for products and services provided by people who were full-time employees, but who didn't really need to be to serve us appropriately. The traditional model has cost you money your whole life because in certain cases it's less efficient than an economic model based on pooling independent resources to provide services that many people need/want.
We know now that you don't need to pay for a full time driver to get a quality ride on demand; or stay in a dedicated hotel to find a great place to sleep; or hire a full-time maid to have your house/apartment cleaned; or have a full-time chef to get a quality meal prepared and delivered straight to you. These kinds of services, which in many cases were previously price-inaccessible to all but the wealthy, are now consumed by a much larger set of people around the world because the resources that supply those services can be federated across a broader demand market.
It's mostly thanks to technology. Geolocalization has enabled what is truly a revolution: the virtually costless pooling of supply-side resources. It's the pooling that foments greater supply and incites demand from a broad audience, enabling independent contractors to earn a living in ways they previously could not. That, along with the demand you provide for their services, is what is attracting them to gig economy jobs.
But gig job growth isn't just often great for the worker who might otherwise find himself unemployed, it's also great for employers (though not so good for governments. Perhaps more on that some other time).
Which means that sometimes hiring full-time workers is a terrible idea.
In most countries there is a significant cost difference for an employer to use full-time employees versus independent workers. The figures may shock you. Here's a real, typical example from France:
Yes...It frequently costs significantly more to hire a full-time employee than it costs to hire an independent contractor to do exactly the same job. In the United States the cost difference may not be as stark as in Europe but it is still significant.
And yet in many cases an independent contractor takes home more money at the end of the month than if he was employed full-time. Because payroll and income taxes are generally lower for independent contractors than for full-time employees (laws vary from country to country) and because if a contractor works more he usually makes more. And he's free to work more (or less).
But beyond salaries and taxes there are other significant advantages to employing - and being - an independent contractor: the worker works when and for whom he wishes. And he can work for more than one company at a time. So if he makes 1800€ a month from SnapCar he might also make that amount from a competitor, like Uber. This motivates SnapCar - and Uber - to pay the driver as well as possible in an effort to win his loyalty. It's not necessarily a race to the top but I can promise it's anything but a race to the bottom.
There is more. The independent worker can have additional, separate jobs on the side. He takes vacations/holidays when he wants. And perhaps the most important element: the barriers to entry for contractor jobs are often not particularly high. So less experienced people and/or those lacking a strong financial footing can often still find work right away. This is a hugely valuable opportunity for many. It's not for everyone but it helps many.
There are some very real drawbacks: the most glaring of which that job security for a contract/freelance worker is lower than in a full-time role. An independent contractor also has no guaranteed daily/monthly income. It's possible to work a ten hour day and make nothing, although this essentially never happens. He's not paid for taking vacations. If his performance is poor or demand dries up he can find himself unable to earn a living. He must buy his own health insurance or perhaps supplemental health insurance (in France all basic health care is paid by the government, funded by payroll taxes. Hence payroll taxes here are 3-4x higher than in the United States).
He also doesn't get to hang out with his colleagues by the water cooler. He won't be paid for playing World of Warcraft during board meetings (like American hero Brian Roddy who was so brilliant he could get away with it) or for watching Yadier Molina win another game for the world's greatest sports franchise and make me fall in love with him all over again. He doesn't get to go to any obligatory work meetings. He doesn't attend company training sessions.
Wait, are those drawbacks...?
Because the worker isn't earning when he's not working, he tends to be motivated to work. Hard. So independent contractors can often be more driven than salaried employees: their primary motivation is to do a job sufficiently well today so they'll make even more tomorrow. And via customer-based rating systems the service providers - SnapCar, TaskRabbit, AirBnB, etc - automatically know who the best independent contractors are, and are motivated to keep them.
In France, where it can cost a year's salary to remove an unmotivated salaried employee, a motivated independent worker is a beautiful thing. Imagine you have a full-time employee who starts refusing to come to work because he knows if he's fired the law requires he be paid six months of salary (or more). With an independent worker this issue doesn't exist. If he's highly-rated by customers he stays and can make a good living. If he's poorly-rated he'll probably have a harder time finding work.
This freedom to work or not, to employ or not, to consume or not, creates a liquidity in the labor market that is healthy and generally good for employers, employees and consumers alike.
Thanks to the costless supply-side resource pooling revolution, independent workers now cost less without necessarily making less, so the services they provide can be consumed less expensively. We all end up taking more SnapCar rides, getting more dry cleaning deliveries from TaskRabbit, more personal assistant services from Zirtual (until it died because they hired full-time employees), and faster medical services via DoctorOnDemand. That thing is going to take over the world.
You wouldn't consume those services if you didn't want to: you're free to choose. If you believe the fearmongering then it's probably best for you to pay for hotels rather than for Airbnb, for full-time limousine companies instead of SnapCar (or taxis), and to hire a permanent engineer with five weeks' vacation to build that app you've been telling your friends about.
But that's not what consumers are doing, which probably means that consumption of services from independent contractors makes their lives better. And since the independent contractors are equally free to offer their services or not - and here they are, offering them on an unprecedented scale - it probably makes for a better life for many of them, too. As soon as it stops working for you, you'll stop buying. As soon as it doesn't work for your driver, he'll stop supplying. So be nice to him. He'll be nice to you, and you'll get where you need to go.
Because everybody needs to get somewhere.
Richard Branson: It‘s easy to neglect your health and family as you spend time dealing with issues at work. Finding time for yourself may seem just about impossible, but you won’t be able to keep going at 100 miles per hour if you’re running on empty.
I find that technology is a great help—I use phone calendars, email reminders and mobile reminders to maneuver my way to each meeting, event and party. You can also use these things to make sure you have time to eat regularly and that you can get a good sleep.
My family is the center of my life, so wherever I am in the world, when I have a few minutes, I talk to my wife and kids. I used to work from home in order to be with the kids as they grew up. It is possible to spend quality time with the family, while still working hard from outside of the office.
Finding time for aspirational thought is vital. When I am at home on Necker Island, I spend time every day in a hammock with my notebooks and iPad, thinking over new ideas and dreams.
Short breaks can also make a big difference. When things are hectic, I find a good English breakfast cup of tea rejuvenating, and after a long day of business travel and meetings, a hot, relaxing bath can make a big difference.
Exercise is vital, to keep the body as active as the mind (I try to start my days on Necker with a swim around the island or a game of tennis if I can).
MP: Have you always placed a heightened importance on play just as hard as you work, if not harder?
RB: In order to be refreshed and ready for anything, you need to find time for play. You are far more likely to succeed if you are having fun, meeting new people or sharing a joke on Twitter. At Virgin we have always prided ourselves on throwing spectacular parties—it’s great when companies look after their people and celebrate their successes.
ALL SMILES: Between laughs, the business mogul shares, "If a business is good, does good, and makes others feel good, then it creates its own legacy.
MP: As an employer, why do you stress work-life balance for your employees?
RB: Too many companies are too keen to put multitudes of rules and regulations on their staff. Not only does this stifle flexibility, it suggests a lack of confidence in your team to do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible. Give your people freedom to be independent, and your business will reap the rewards.
I truly believe that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business.
We run a range of schemes to help staff keep healthy – fresh fruit is available on a daily basis, we have a flexible working policy and staff can also take part in our Virgin Pulse program which monitors their exercise levels throughout the day.
And last year we introduced unlimited leave for all staff at our head offices Virgin Management and our foundation Virgin Unite. Flexible working has revolutionised how, where and when we all do our jobs. If working nine to five no longer applies, then neither should strict annual vacation policies.
Ultimately, it’s all down to our people and putting trust in them— they are the ones who make me want to come to work every day, and they are the ones who will continue to make Virgin a trusted and successful brand.
MP: In what ways can other employers/organizations encourage a culture of health and wellness?
RB: It’s a lot harder to try and convince people that they’re looking at a good brand, rather than simply being a great one. I suggest the following:
- Put people at the center of your business. Your employees are by far the best advocates for your business. Make sure they feel valued and cared for so that they love your business just as much as you do. Little things make all the difference such as celebrating success or remembering birthdays.
- Choose the right talent and keep them. People are what make the cogs turn in a business. A business simply can't succeed without the success of its people, so not only should you pick the right people, but you should do everything in your power to help them grow and develop. Don’t second guess them, empower them.
- Listen to your staff. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to listen to your staff. People can be your best asset, or your most fierce opposition, so making sure you know how they feel and getting them on board is important. Nobody likes a dictatorship.
- Be bold! Try new things. When it comes to testing out new ideas in the workplace it can feel like a bit of a gamble. For example, late last year Virgin Management introduced unlimited vacation. Nobody can predict whether or not it will work in the long term… but then again, how do you know until you try? It’s certainly no fun standing still! You also need to get senior people to practice, push and encourage any health and wellness policies a company has come up with to make sure everyone is making the most of them.
- Create a workplace that generates its own legacy. If a business is good, does good, and makes others feel good, then it creates its own legacy.
RB: First and foremost, I believe in flexible working. It is important that employers appreciate their employees’ work-life balance and give them the flexibility to work around their personal lives. We have embraced flexible working since 2013 and allowed our people to work from home or remotely and stagger their working hours if they wish to. We trust our employees to work from wherever and whenever they like as long as they get their work done on time and to a high level, and other Virgin companies may decide to follow in the future.
I also support unlimited leave: In my book, I talked about how we were introducing an unlimited vacation policy, which is currently applicable to the 170 people at Virgin’s headquarters, Virgin Management and our not-for-profit foundation Virgin Unite. This allows our people to take as much vacation as they feel they need each year, as long as they take a minimum amount of vacation to ensure they are getting time to rest and recharge. This gives our staff the flexibility to take more vacation time than previously possible, for example during a special year when somebody gets married.
Employee well-being is key. At Virgin we believe that if you look after your staff first the rest will follow, a happy workforce is a healthier workforce. At Virgin we have a health and well-being program called Virgin Pulse, it’s just one way we are trying to help our workforce lead a healthy lifestyle. Virgin Pulse is a fun way to monitor levels of exercise throughout the day, not only does this help companies support the health and wellness of their employees but it also creates a create culture at work where employees are engaged and performing at their peak.
STAFF, editorial@mediaplanet.com
3 Benefits of Workplace Flexibility
Many employees telecommute to avoid office politics and stressful commutes.
U.S.News
Sep 11th 2015 9:07AM
By Hannah Morgan
Do you want to improve your work-life balance, save time and reduce the stress from commuting? Who doesn't? The one answer to achieving these results is right under your nose, and it won't cost you or your employer a dime to initiate.
Today's workplace is incredibly demanding. Companies haven't been replacing laid off employees, leaving the remaining employees to pick up the pieces. This created discontent, disengagement and disconnect or mass exiting. Now, employers are finally concerned about acquiring and retaining talent. As a result, many are making changes to how and when employees report to work.
Search Jobs
The FlexJobs fourth annual Super Study contains important takeaways for employers and employees. Responses from more than 2,600 survey participants, across all age brackets, indicate employees are looking for greater work flexibility. Companies serious about attracting and retaining a productive workforce are listening. Job seekers and employees, take note: You are likely to see changes coming to a company near you. Here are some of the benefits:
Loyalty. What is one thing that would make you more devoted to your current employer? Flexible work options would make 82 percent of the survey's respondents more loyal. So what are flexible work options? This could mean working remotely, telecommuting some of the time, part-time or freelance work or an alternative work schedule. Loyalty makes for better employees who go above and beyond. Companies may not be able to put a price tag on loyalty, but they know it when they see it. It's a win-win for employees and employers.
Quality of life. What would positively impact your quality of life? Ninety-seven percent of study participants reported that a job with flexibility would do the trick. Working a job with a flexible work schedule would lower stress levels, according to 87 percent of respondents, and more than three-quarters of them believe it would make them more healthy.
Productivity. If you really needed to complete a project, where would you work? Seventy-six percent of workers avoid the office for important tasks, according to the survey. Half said working from home is a better option, because it eliminates distractions and interruptions from colleagues. Additional reasons to want to work away from the office include minimizing office politics and stress associated from commuting. And others report working from a home office is more comfortable.
How to lobby for more flexibility at your job:
If you are no longer in love with your current job, perhaps you can rekindle your affection for your work and employer by investigating the possibility of a flexible work schedule.
Dig through your employee handbook for any formal policies on work schedules. There may be company standards you should know about. But also bear in mind that there may be exceptions. In other instances, companies may leave work scheduling up to the individual managers.
Next, ask around to see if anyone in your company is working an alternative schedule. Ask the employee about how his or her manager views the quality of his or her work, how other team members feel about the situation and how your colleague negotiated an alternative work schedule. If this doesn't apply to anyone working in your company, ask these same questions of anyone you know who works a nontraditional schedule.
Finally, plan the conversation you intend to have with your manager. Start by laying out the productivity benefits for your manager and the company. In other words, explain in quantifiable terms how you will be more productive. Be prepared to overcome any objections from your manager.
Remember: Your conversation is a negotiation, not an ultimatum. Let your manager process your suggestion and, if necessary, resume the conversation later. If you don't win the negotiation, you really haven't lost anything. In fact, your conversation may pave the way for your manager to adopt new guidelines in the future. Instead of waiting for change to occur at your company, this may be the impetus for you to begin looking for a new job elsewhere.
A final point: Be wary of work-from-home scams you see promoted on websites, and never put down your own money to get started. Instead, ask around, and look for employers who have a track record of allowing employees to work alternative schedules. FlexJobs lists both companies known to be flex-friendly and legitimate jobs.
The Case Against Full-Time Employees
Aug 19, 2015
"A lot of people are convinced that a lot of people should be paid a lot less, but I'm pretty sure everyone I've ever met thinks they should be paid a lot more. A lot of people are going to end up unhappy."
~ My buddy Dan
"Gig jobs" - the newest term for the employment of freelancers or independent contractors - are invoking a lot of discussion these days. Companies like Lyft, TaskRabbit, Upwork and many others are frequently criticized for providing services delivered by independent (or even unlicensed) contractors. Some journalists are raising terrifying claims about how the sky is falling because "full-time employment is dying and soon we'll all be obsolete". It's as if by 2020 we will be out on the street, penniless and begging a parasol-carrying bourgeois couple to let us run them across town in a rickshaw so we can earn a few tuppence for tonight's pudding.
A lot of people are buying into the fearmongering. They shouldn't.
The debate even seems to be impacting employment models of companies that probably should be using a lot of independent contractors: Shyp recently made the risky - and costly - decision to hire its delivery workers as full time employees; it feels like AirBnB - whose owner-hosts certainly don't pay employment taxes - is being sued in every city it operates; Sprig and Blue Apron must face the dilemma of do we hire full time people or do we pay contractors piecemeal?; Gravity Payments finds itself in an odd situation after guaranteeinggreat minimum salaries for all its full-time employees, a choice that appears to be costing it more than just money; and Zirtual shut down at least in part because it hired full-time employees...and hopes to relaunch using independent contractors.
Hotels hate AirBnB. Taxis hate SnapCar. Trains hate BlaBlaCar. Restaurants hate Sprig. Cleaning services hate TaskRabbit. This hate and debate - about an employment model that disrupts or destroys entrenched businesses - is increasingly focused on the use of independent contractors.
I'm caught in the middle. As a consumer, but also founder of a company that has created or contributed to the development of several thousand independent contractor jobs in Paris, I want to explain why "gig economy jobs" will continue to comprise an outsized percentage of global jobs growth in the coming years.
Many jobs - particularly highly-skilled or managerial ones - will continue to be better served by full-time employees than by contractors. There is no question full-time jobs will remain the preferred employment model for a majority of employers and workers alike. Every company needs dedicated resources that focus all their work energy on a single set of responsibilities. You can't run and grow a company if you don't have dedicated workers, and by definition independent contractors are free to work for anyone they wish.
But at the most basic level gig economy jobs are exploding because there weren't enough of them in the first place. This new employment paradigm demonstrates that for certain types of jobs there are more efficient ways of allocating resources, leading to better services for customers, more money for contractors, and indirect benefits to consumers because of productivity boosts to economies.
In the past, the complexity/impossibility of resource pooling made it too hard for most companies to use independent contractors on any large scale, even though many could really have benefited from doing so. So consumers paid more than we should have for products and services provided by people who were full-time employees, but who didn't really need to be to serve us appropriately. The traditional model has cost you money your whole life because in certain cases it's less efficient than an economic model based on pooling independent resources to provide services that many people need/want.
We know now that you don't need to pay for a full time driver to get a quality ride on demand; or stay in a dedicated hotel to find a great place to sleep; or hire a full-time maid to have your house/apartment cleaned; or have a full-time chef to get a quality meal prepared and delivered straight to you. These kinds of services, which in many cases were previously price-inaccessible to all but the wealthy, are now consumed by a much larger set of people around the world because the resources that supply those services can be federated across a broader demand market.
It's mostly thanks to technology. Geolocalization has enabled what is truly a revolution: the virtually costless pooling of supply-side resources. It's the pooling that foments greater supply and incites demand from a broad audience, enabling independent contractors to earn a living in ways they previously could not. That, along with the demand you provide for their services, is what is attracting them to gig economy jobs.
But gig job growth isn't just often great for the worker who might otherwise find himself unemployed, it's also great for employers (though not so good for governments. Perhaps more on that some other time).
Which means that sometimes hiring full-time workers is a terrible idea.
In most countries there is a significant cost difference for an employer to use full-time employees versus independent workers. The figures may shock you. Here's a real, typical example from France:
Yes...It frequently costs significantly more to hire a full-time employee than it costs to hire an independent contractor to do exactly the same job. In the United States the cost difference may not be as stark as in Europe but it is still significant.
And yet in many cases an independent contractor takes home more money at the end of the month than if he was employed full-time. Because payroll and income taxes are generally lower for independent contractors than for full-time employees (laws vary from country to country) and because if a contractor works more he usually makes more. And he's free to work more (or less).
But beyond salaries and taxes there are other significant advantages to employing - and being - an independent contractor: the worker works when and for whom he wishes. And he can work for more than one company at a time. So if he makes 1800€ a month from SnapCar he might also make that amount from a competitor, like Uber. This motivates SnapCar - and Uber - to pay the driver as well as possible in an effort to win his loyalty. It's not necessarily a race to the top but I can promise it's anything but a race to the bottom.
There is more. The independent worker can have additional, separate jobs on the side. He takes vacations/holidays when he wants. And perhaps the most important element: the barriers to entry for contractor jobs are often not particularly high. So less experienced people and/or those lacking a strong financial footing can often still find work right away. This is a hugely valuable opportunity for many. It's not for everyone but it helps many.
There are some very real drawbacks: the most glaring of which that job security for a contract/freelance worker is lower than in a full-time role. An independent contractor also has no guaranteed daily/monthly income. It's possible to work a ten hour day and make nothing, although this essentially never happens. He's not paid for taking vacations. If his performance is poor or demand dries up he can find himself unable to earn a living. He must buy his own health insurance or perhaps supplemental health insurance (in France all basic health care is paid by the government, funded by payroll taxes. Hence payroll taxes here are 3-4x higher than in the United States).
He also doesn't get to hang out with his colleagues by the water cooler. He won't be paid for playing World of Warcraft during board meetings (like American hero Brian Roddy who was so brilliant he could get away with it) or for watching Yadier Molina win another game for the world's greatest sports franchise and make me fall in love with him all over again. He doesn't get to go to any obligatory work meetings. He doesn't attend company training sessions.
Wait, are those drawbacks...?
Because the worker isn't earning when he's not working, he tends to be motivated to work. Hard. So independent contractors can often be more driven than salaried employees: their primary motivation is to do a job sufficiently well today so they'll make even more tomorrow. And via customer-based rating systems the service providers - SnapCar, TaskRabbit, AirBnB, etc - automatically know who the best independent contractors are, and are motivated to keep them.
In France, where it can cost a year's salary to remove an unmotivated salaried employee, a motivated independent worker is a beautiful thing. Imagine you have a full-time employee who starts refusing to come to work because he knows if he's fired the law requires he be paid six months of salary (or more). With an independent worker this issue doesn't exist. If he's highly-rated by customers he stays and can make a good living. If he's poorly-rated he'll probably have a harder time finding work.
This freedom to work or not, to employ or not, to consume or not, creates a liquidity in the labor market that is healthy and generally good for employers, employees and consumers alike.
Thanks to the costless supply-side resource pooling revolution, independent workers now cost less without necessarily making less, so the services they provide can be consumed less expensively. We all end up taking more SnapCar rides, getting more dry cleaning deliveries from TaskRabbit, more personal assistant services from Zirtual (until it died because they hired full-time employees), and faster medical services via DoctorOnDemand. That thing is going to take over the world.
You wouldn't consume those services if you didn't want to: you're free to choose. If you believe the fearmongering then it's probably best for you to pay for hotels rather than for Airbnb, for full-time limousine companies instead of SnapCar (or taxis), and to hire a permanent engineer with five weeks' vacation to build that app you've been telling your friends about.
But that's not what consumers are doing, which probably means that consumption of services from independent contractors makes their lives better. And since the independent contractors are equally free to offer their services or not - and here they are, offering them on an unprecedented scale - it probably makes for a better life for many of them, too. As soon as it stops working for you, you'll stop buying. As soon as it doesn't work for your driver, he'll stop supplying. So be nice to him. He'll be nice to you, and you'll get where you need to go.
Because everybody needs to get somewhere.
