Five Benefits of Working with a Nanny Agency to Find Your Best-Fit Nanny
On the surface, the cost of working with a nanny agency might seem overwhelming, or even downright unnecessary. We get it. With all the childcare Facebook groups and caregiving job sites & apps at your fingertips, it might seem fairly simple to approach a nanny search on your own. And if that’s what you ultimately decide to do, that’s GREAT! We wholeheartedly support you, as only you know what decision is right for your family.
In any case, as a well-established nanny agency, we know how important it is to consider the depth of this journey.
When you hire a nanny, you are hiring an in-home employee and, subsequently, you begin taking on the role of employer. And you might be thinking, “Well duh,” but you’d be surprised how easy it is to gloss over this fact. We’re here to say that this is not a simple task nor a role to be taken lightly.
At Nanny Harmony, we have spent years curating an intimate, personalized process that takes the stress, guesswork, and extensive time commitment out of your search for your best-fit nanny, household manager, or Newborn Care Specialist. In a highly-competitive market, we know what it takes to set your job apart and to attract stellar, experienced, long-term candidates.
So let’s talk about why exactly working with a nanny agency is so beneficial in this process and why it should be viewed as an investment that will set you up for long-term success:
Most career nannies prefer to work through nanny agencies.
As a premier agency, we work with incredible nannies. We have access to a higher tier of career candidates because we work tirelessly to set expectations (such as market rates, industry standards, etiquette, etc.) between nannies and families, and the fact of the matter is that career nannies appreciate (and deserve!) this advocacy and support. The type of candidate that your family is hoping to hire (reliable, experienced, passionate, professional, punctual, CPR & First Aid Certified, looking for long-term opportunities to grow with a family) is often working through a nanny agency to find their next position and is not as likely to be utilizing childcare Facebook groups and other platforms.
We have developed an incredible system for extensive candidate screening.
In this day and age, where it has become pretty easy to pretend you’re someone you’re not in online spaces, a nanny agency is able to take the fear and uncertainty out of candidate screening. This part of the process can often feel daunting when searching for a nanny on your own, especially because we’re dealing with the care and well-being of our children, the most important thing in our world. For this reason, we put each nanny candidate through a multi-step screening process that can take days, sometimes weeks. This includes in-depth candidate interviews, comprehensive background checks, detailed reference calls, social media checks, CPR/First Aid verification, and driving record checks (when applicable).
We hold nannies and families accountable.
Throughout this journey, our expectation is that candidates are communicative, professional, and consistent. We have become very well-versed in any red flags (and even yellow flags) that might pop up during this process, and if any appear, we will no longer represent that candidate. Thus, when we present top candidates to you, you can trust that they are the best of the best and have made it through multiple checkpoints. By the same token, we are very clear with families about what we expect by way of communication and participation throughout the search. Active, honest, and timely feedback and communication is a nonnegotiable for us, and we are well-equipped to handle any questions, concerns, and necessary mediation for both parties.
We are well-versed in industry standards.
This one certainly ties in with our first point that career nannies prefer to work through agencies, and a big part of that is because we understand and advocate for industry standards. As a team of women who all have extensive experience as professional nannies and household managers, we know just how important these industry standards are, and we are so happy to educate families on what these look like in practice. Not sure where to begin with things like market rates, guaranteed weekly pay, PTO, paid holidays, or mileage reimbursement? That’s what we’re here for! In fact, we have a separate blog post devoted entirely to this: Hiring a Nanny: Competitive Benefits Package. No question is silly, and open dialogue around these standards goes a long way.
We set you up for long-term success, from day one.
Along with taking care of all interview scheduling and trial scheduling, we also set you up with a robust, customizable employment agreement that allows for clear expectations between nannies and families. We understand the importance of paying your nanny legally, using a w-2, and we will set you up with a wonderful point of contact at HomeWork Solutions or HomePay so you can properly initiate payroll and calculate taxes for your household employee. Additionally, we provide helpful resources and guides all along the way, including a detailed resource packet that allows you to best prepare for your nanny’s first days, weeks, and months. In ensuring that both parties are on the same page from the very beginning, we are able to set you up for a successful, long-lasting partnership where everyone’s needs are being valued and met. Laying this foundation allows for low turnover rates and longevity in your nanny position.
While people may underestimate the work that goes into a nanny search, our team at Nanny Harmony is available 7 days/week to engage with candidates and families and to keep a close eye on position details and any market fluctuations. Our approach throughout the entire nanny-search experience (which generally takes 3-8 weeks) is to connect on a very personal level with families and nannies to ensure we’re targeting the right fit. We believe that the way in which we source professional, safe, reliable, trustworthy, long-term caregivers matters, and there’s so much that goes into it.
It is important to keep in mind that working with a nanny agency is a service—a customized, curated experience for your family that has been developed and perfected through years and years of hands-on experience. It is not a product, but an investment.
As soon as you are ready to invest in this process, simply fill out our Family Application, or take some time to learn more about our process here. There is nothing we love more than being invited on this journey with you.
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Nanny Harmony is a well-established, premier nanny placement agency, based in Chicago and offering services nationwide. We take immense pride in our extensive community network and in our proven ability to find extraordinary matches between families and passionate, experienced nannies, household managers, and Newborn Care Specialists. We also offer specialized placements for niche roles like travel nannies, and would be thrilled to support you in finding the very best fit for your family. If you’d like to begin the process, fill out our family application here or head to our Families Page for more info.
Follow along on our Instagram, or reach out to us with any questions at hello@nannyharmonychicago.com.
