Nanny Employer Blog

Last weekend, I attended a conference of the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies (APNA) in Philadelphia. It was my first meeting as a member of the board of directors. I have been a member for many years and I am honored to now have a more participatory role, serving on the board. APNA is an organization that represents the best and brightest agency owners from across the country who have averaged at least 10 years in the business, many closer to 20 or 30. Keynote speakers included Alyssa Dyer who gave us some great marketing ideas from her book, No Time Marketing, and Deborah Smith, queen of social networking, who shared with us all the ins and outs of Facebook, Twitter, and more.

The conference format was a “Apprentice” style case study on a fictional struggling agency (whose P&L’s were in need of serious help) which was given $5k in marketing funds to spend on generating additional clientele most effectively. Attendees were divided into 5 groups and given a few hours to compose the most convincing PPT presentation. Some interesting ideas were inspired from this creative group of entrepreneurs.

It seems very apropos that such originality would flow in a city with such rich history and the origin of such creative genius as the Declaration of Independence. The beautiful architecture and historical significance of the location were not lost on this group. I look forward to getting more involved in the running and management of this important organization whose mission is to “establish and enforce standards of professional industry practices.”

While we are experiencing some negative impacts of the economy, there are also some great positive benefits our client families can take advantage of right now! One tremendous benefit is the increased nanny pool. We are seeing an influx of extremely qualified caregivers who are seeking immediate employment. At Mom’s Best Friend, we pride ourselves on the quality of our candidates and the thoroughness of our background screening. In previous years, we have had to do extra recruiting to find those fantastic candidates. Today, that is not the case. A number of experienced, veteran nannies that may have lost their job due to one parent deciding to stay home or losing their job are now on the job market. What a wonderful time to find a supernanny!

Our nannies all appreciate the opportunity to work and the ability to make a difference in the lives of the children and parents they work for. These individuals have a heart for service and a desire to walk side by side with their employer to help ease some of the additional stress they themselves are feeling by competently and lovingly caring for their children (and home). In addition to childcare, nannies often take on some of the household management and coordination. Because of the contracting job market, we are seeing nannies becoming more flexible in regards to hours, duties and compensation than ever before.

My nanny is a superstar and handles such extra tasks as: arranging for and supervising household repairs, household organization, creating a weekly Excel spreadsheet/schedule for the family, grocery shopping and meal planning, some cooking, errands, cataloguing family photos, decorating for the holidays, taking the cars for maintenance, helping with the kids’ schooling (she’s a teacher!), packing, travelling with us, and so much more.

Let one of our many Mom’s Best Friend Super Nannies help make your home life easier!

Last week, I attended the Alliance of Premier Nanny Agencies conference in Las Vegas, along with 100 of my colleagues who own and work for professional nanny agencies all over the country. We enjoyed a great time of collaboration and idea generation. On Friday, Lisa Vines (VP of Sales Operations) and I spoke to the group about how to enhance your on-call (sitter) services. We shared ideas about how to exceed client expectations, reward your nannies, and provide corporate backup child care (as we do for many Texas businesses). I am also proud to say that we were recognized as a top 3 nominee for Nanny Agency of the Year at an award dinner on Saturday evening.

Attendance at events like this conference help us to stay on top of the latest background checks, providing top notch customer service, and general ways to improve our offerings to our valued, loyal client families. Belonging to one or both industry associations (the other being the International Nanny Association) signifies an adherence to stringent industry standards, ethics and expectations in the running of your business. Mom’s Best Friend has been a member of both associations for many years and helped with planning conferences, speaking at conferences as an industry expert, and working on various committees to help make improvements.