The Annual Review (My Top Seven Tips) – Working With A Nanny From A-Z Series – Ep.14

Parents – are you sitting down with your nanny on an annual or quarterly basis to compare notes on how the relationship is going?

If not, make sure that you do! One of the keys to a strong, long-lasting relationship with your nanny is communication – what’s working, what’s not working, and what does the future look like for both your family AND your nanny.

I’m back with Episode #14 in our series, “Working With A Nanny From A-Z”. In today’s episode, I discuss why annual reviews are important and how best to approach them!

New to our “Working With A Nanny From A-Z” videos? In this series, I am going to walk you through the entire process of working with a nanny. From deciding if nanny care is right for your family all the way through how to find, interview, hire and work with a nanny. Basically, everything you need to know from A-Z about the nanny world!

If you missed any of the first thirteen episodes, click the images below to check those out:

In today’s video, “The Annual Review (My Top Seven Tips) – Working With A Nanny From A-Z Series – Ep.14” I discuss my top tips for how to conduct an annual review so that both you and your nanny walk away feeling clear and positive about the status of your relationship. Click here to watch the episode.

Don’t forget to pay your nanny for the time it takes to conduct the annual review!

A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here. Welcome back to my “Working With A Nanny from A to Z” video series. So far in this video series, we’ve covered everything from “Is a nanny right for your family?” to “How to handle a problem when it comes up with your nanny.”

In today’s episode, I will discuss the annual review and my top seven tips for conducting the review effectively. Please keep in mind parents that this video is geared toward you, and how to handle the annual review. Nannies, if any of you are tuned into this video, please make sure to tune in next week when I will cover the annual review from the nanny’s point of view.

Most families want to partner with their nanny for at least a year, sometimes for multiple years. After a year’s time working with your nanny it’s quite possible that the job duties might change, the schedule might need to change, or there may be additional children who need care within the family.

Your nanny also has another year’s worth of experience under their belt, and it’s also likely that the cost of living may have gone up within that past year. Your nanny is likely interested in discussing a raise with you after a year’s worth of time, based on their performance, and what they contribute to your family. It’s important to remember that your nanny is an incredible addition to your team, and that mentality should carry over into the annual review.

It’s not only an opportunity for the parents to discuss what’s working well, any changes that might be needed, and any changes to the job that are coming up within the next year. But, it’s also a time for nannies to discuss their observations, any challenges they have with the position, and what their next year might look like moving forward.

So, here are my seven tips for how to conduct an effective and productive annual review with your nanny.

Tip #1: Planning the annual review

Let your nanny know you would like to plan some time to do this. This could be after a typical shift, or on a weekend over coffee, discuss with your nanny. You would like to plan some time to check-in officially as the current contract draws to an end, in order to see what things might look like for both parties moving forward into the next year. Ask your nanny to make a list of anything they would like to discuss during the annual review. Remember, to pay your nanny during the time it takes to do the annual review as well.

Tip #2: Check-in with your nanny

Ask how things have been going up to that point. Hopefully, you and your nanny have great communication and any little things that may have come up during your time working together, have been discussed when they happen. The annual review is a great time to share your observations about the care your nanny provides, as well as where things stand with your family, and if any changes to care need to be made based on your child or children’s changing developmental stages. If there are any concerns you need to address with your nanny, make sure to spend some time discussing your nanny’s strengths, or any positive aspects of the care that your nanny is providing first.

It’s a good idea to jot down an outline, or some speaking points so that you can make sure to cover all of the topics you would like to address during the annual review. If you do this on a little sheet of paper this is also a great place to jot down, any little tidbits about the conversation that you want to make notes about, and share later in a summary email.

Tip #3: Invite the nanny to share their feedback

Does the nanny have any concerns about the child’s behavior or developmental milestones? Do they have any concerns about the nanny-family relationship, or do they have any concerns about the position in general? Make sure that you want them to be able to speak freely and openly, and have a very honest conversation about the state of affairs of the nanny family working relationship.

Tip #4: Discuss any upcoming job duty or schedule changes

Layout any upcoming changes in the needs, schedule or job duties, and ask the nanny if that’s something that will work for them. If there are any additional duties such as household assisting duties, or care of an additional child is required, please make sure to discuss with your nanny what they feel is fair compensation for those additional job duties. And don’t assume that your nanny will be able to accommodate these changes!

Tip #5: Have a copy of the original contract handy for reference

You can also write down notes on the contract that will be helpful for adjusting, or renegotiating a contract extension with your nanny.

Tip #6: Send a follow-up email

That is a summary of what was discussed, make bullet points for any specific topics or resolutions if needed. Make sure to outline any changes that were discussed such as with compensation information, job duties, or scheduling.

Tip #7: Include a copy of the contract that includes all of the changes that were discussed

Be prepared to negotiate if your nanny comes back with a counteroffer. Remember it’s often less expensive from a time, money, and “care consistency” standpoint to keep your current nanny on than it would be to search for, hire, on board and establish a trusting relationship with a new nanny. This is of course assuming everything is going well with your current nanny.

Parents are often surprised at how much the pay rates have increased if they’ve been working with a nanny for several years!

Alright, in the review you can have an effective and productive annual review with your nanny by following these seven tips.

#1: Plan ahead so that both you and your nanny can thoughtfully prepare for discussion points.

#2: Cover specific points by making sure to include positive feedback, schedule or job duty changes, and any constructive criticism you’d like to address with your nanny.

#3: Invite your nanny to openly share any feedback, observations, or challenges they may have faced.

#4: Discuss any schedule or job duty changes that will be needed on the family’s end for the upcoming year.

#5: Have a copy of the current contract handy to reference or take notes on.

#6: Send an email summarizing the conversation with your nanny.

#7: Include a copy of the updated contract terms you’d like to offer your nanny in the email.

I hope the information in this video helps you to successfully navigate the annual review with your nanny. Next week, I’ll be covering the annual review from the nanny’s standpoint.

Parents, you may want to tune into that episode to see what could be on your nanny’s mind. Two weeks from now, please join me for the final video in my “Working With A Nanny From A to Z” video series which is all about ending the working agreement with your nanny.

Thank you so much for joining me, I will see you back next week. Bye!