How To Successfully Onboard Your Nanny – Working With A Nanny From A-Z Series – Ep.10

A transcript of the video can be found below:

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here. Welcome back to my video series, “Working With A Nanny From A To Z”.

So far in this series, we’ve covered everything from “Is a nanny right for you?” to “How to make a job offer to your nanny”. 

In my last episode, we covered everything you need to know about your nanny contract.

In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about how to successfully onboard your nanny.

So, why onboard your nanny?

Well, it’s a way that you can mindfully introduce them to and welcome them into your home, in a way that is going to make them feel supported and prepared, and able to perform their position at the best of their abilities.

Going through the onboarding process will allow nannies to ask questions along the way that will further their understanding of the role they will play in your family.

So, the first thing you want to cover with your nanny is the “house tour”. 

Cover the basics and imagine what the nanny might need to know upon arrival at your home each day. This should include where they can park, where it’s not okay to park if that’s the case, and also how they’re going to gain entrance into your home each day. Will that be via the key that you give them? Will they text you and then you let them in? Should they knock? Should they just let themselves in if the door is unlocked? Those kinds of things! 

And if you always have coffee brewing in the morning for example, and the nanny is welcome to pour themselves a cup, make sure you let them know that. Are there any phone chargers that are okay for the nanny to use? Make sure to share that information as well! 

And if the nanny will be able to access your wi-fi network during downtime here and there around the house, please invite them to do so and share what the wi-fi password is. 

You will also want to cover where the nanny should keep their things. So this could include their shoes, their purse, their jacket for example. 

Next in the house tour, you will want to cover where all the cleaning supplies are, just in case there are any messes made along the way that the nanny needs to clean up. This should include any cleaning detergents, any towels or cleaning cloths, the broom, of course, the vacuum, any of those things. 

This is also a great time to orientate your nanny to the kitchen, show them where the kid’s snacks are, where everything is kept. If the nanny is welcome to eat the food in the home, make sure you share that with them and invite them to do so. 

This is a great time to discuss how food will be handled. Most nannies report that they are welcome to eat the food in the family home, but if there’s anything off-limits make sure you say, “hey the off-limits stuff is on this special shelf” for example, maybe there are some specialty food items for any allergy considerations for example, or maybe this could include a shelf in the refrigerator, or perhaps you have a system for anything that’s off-limits, for example, leftovers that are earmarked for dinner that night. 

So make sure to have a conversation about how food is handled in the household. And also, create a system so if anything is out or you’re running low on anything the nanny knows how to communicate that to you, that could be via a whiteboard, a digital shopping list, or that could even just be a sticky note on the counter. 

And parents, if you want to go the extra mile ask your nanny what types of foods they like, so maybe you can have some of their favorite things on hand as well.

Last in the house tour, you will want to communicate where extras are kept, this could be extra toilet paper, this could be extra kleenex, or extra paper towels, diaper supplies, those sorts of things. 

Next, you should really consider having an information binder. 

I know this might seem excessive to some people but nannies love this sort of thing. 

In the information binder, you can include a copy of your contract, make sure to highlight any emergency contact information and addresses of any pertinent locations that the nanny will need to know such as the child’s school. The information binder should also include any documentation needed, such as a medical release, list of known allergies, etc.

You could also have the nanny keep a digital copy of this on their phone in case of emergencies while out and about, the nanny could keep a copy in their car, or a copy of the medical release could also be kept in the diaper bag. 

I also love to write down a little bit about each child’s personality. This could include things that work well for them, if redirection is needed, things that are good distractions, for them for example, or if they always go down for a nap with their special “lovy” or blanket and they just can’t live without it. Those are the kinds of things that nannies will find really really helpful. 

And also, if there are any foods your child absolutely loves, or absolutely will not eat, that can be helpful information too. 

Also in the information binder, you’ll want to include information about any medication needs. 

It’s also a good idea to have information for each child’s school. This could include the schedule, contact information, those sorts of things. And really quickly while we’re talking about schools, make sure your nanny is on the emergency pick-up list for your child’s school. That’s something especially if it’s a mid-year start, that is not on a lot of parents’ radars.

It’s also a good idea to have the daily schedule written out, so this of course is not set in stone, but it’s just a nice little guideline about when meals happen, when nap time happens, for example, if the child always loves a half-hour of reading before nap time, things like that can be really helpful for nannies. 

And I’ll mention it again just because it might not be something everybody thinks about, note down that wi-fi password if your nanny is able to use the wi-fi at your home.

So far we’ve covered the house tour, and the information binder, next you will want to cover the car tour and the neighborhood tour with your nanny.

If the nanny is invited to use the family car while transporting the nanny children around, you will want to orientate them to the car. So, after you show the nanny around the car, it’s a great opportunity to go on that neighborhood tour. Go to any schools, any parks, any activity locations that your nanny will be transporting the children to. And, if you want to see what your nanny’s driving style is like in real-time, you could invite your nanny to drive during this tour, this will also help them to get acclimated to the neighborhood while they’re behind the wheel.

I also wanted to find out from nannies what was important to them when they are starting with a new family. So I posed the question to nannies on Reddit and here were some of the best remarks that they had:

@KatieLady13: “A half a day of shadowing the parents, so as to get a better sense of the family’s parenting style”.

@Voodoogirl47: “When they open the fridge and say, we’ll clear out a shelf for your stuff it’s like getting a drawer at the house of the person you are dating”.

@Beulah1: “Always have a printout”. 

@Tigerspots973: “I had a mom boss who worked from home, but for the last half of my first day she left the house and said I know it’s awkward opening 50 cabinets to explore while I’m upstairs, I’m going out to grab lunch and coffee down the street explore and open whatever you want and call if you need anything.”. 

Alright, everyone. 

Those are my top tips for how to successfully onboard your nanny.

I hope you found this video helpful, if you like this video please click the like button, subscribe, or ring the bell. So you can be alerted when more of these helpful videos come out next time. Please tune in next week for episode 11 when we cover “How to be the best nanny employer”. Thanks, everyone. Bye!