Need advice on communicating to our nanny

[Anonymous]

I'm not Ms. Diplomacy so could use some advice on communicating in a constructive non-bitchy way to our nanny. She has been with us just a few months and when we hired her, we agreed that she would do some housecleaning (when she is NOT watching the child) as she needed more hours than we needed of childcare. She has done minor cleaning, like a half hour here and there, and today is the first day I gave her a bloc of two hours to do significant cleaning. I made a list and identified to her the priorities and she did a sh*t-poor job. For example, I told her one of her priorities was cleaning the bathroom and all she did was clean the counters. Not even the sinks! Why would someone clean the counter, but not the sink?!? My bottom line gripe and what I have been feeling for a while is that when I ask her to do cleaning, she always does less than she should. I think she would rather just watch the child and do only minor cleaning, but we agreed that cleaning would be part of the job. I do like how she watches my child, but I pay her a very good above-market rate and feel like I'm overpaying her if she's not going to do the non-childcare part of the job well. I still want to try to make things work with her, so I'd like to communicate to her politely but firmly. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Is she foreign-born?

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Nanny M, I feel like this is not working out as we had planned. I thought we had agreed that you would do xxx, but it's not really happening. I need the cleaning done more consistently and more thoroughly. I am happy to go over what that means, but if it's not something you're really willing to do, and do well, please tell me. If that's the case, I need to hire a cleaning service, and we will need to talk about adjusting your rate and schedule to just cover childcare.

At this point, she'll probably apologize and say that she's not sure what she's supposed to do, or that it has been harder than she expected to make the transition to housekeeper/nanny. Then you agree to go over everything and leave her a daily list and to see how it goes for the next month. A month from now, you praise her progress, or give her the choice of a reduction in hours/pay to eliminate the cleaning, or to part ways.

[Anonymous]

nannies aren't maids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nannies aren't maids

[Anonymous]

Does she have any cleaning experience other than just cleaning her own home?

Because she may be excellent w/young children, but horrible at scouting toilets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:nannies aren't maids

It's true. OP made a rookie mistake here. It's like asking the office janitor to make you a bunch of copies and then getting surprised when they screw up. You hired a nanny and asked her to do a non-nanny job, and of course she said yes - she wanted the extra hours! Next time, the nanny does nanny jobs and the house cleaners do cleaning jobs.

[Anonymous]

I would post a list of specifics. So when cleaning the bathroom write out: wipe counters and sinks, clean bathtub and faucet, clean toilet and toilet seat, wash floor and shake out the rugs. Wipe mirrors.

As a former Nanny I would not want to do any of this but if you agreed on it then she needs to keep to her end of the bargain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would post a list of specifics. So when cleaning the bathroom write out: wipe counters and sinks, clean bathtub and faucet, clean toilet and toilet seat, wash floor and shake out the rugs. Wipe mirrors.

As a former Nanny I would not want to do any of this but if you agreed on it then she needs to keep to her end of the bargain.

NP nanny. If I'm living in, I'll clean any bathroom and kids and/or I use, but I don't clean the master or guest bathrooms. The same goes for laundry whether I live in or out: if parents' laundry is thrown in with kids, I'll wash and dry it, and either fold or hang, but I don't iron, and I certainly don't go in their room to put it away. Each nanny has her own line of what is permissible and what isn't.

I would suggest that you sit the nanny down for a talk and offer several options. You can do a probationary period, during which you will have a set list for her to do each time she has a black of time without children. You can take the extra hours off the table, unless it's a block of time during the shift (ie. 1 hour while waiting for child or while child sleeps); in that case, find some other task that's more suitable to her, like kids' laundry or researching crafts. You can let her know that this is a sticking point for you, because she asked for more hours, so you have to assume that she will need to find full-time employment elsewhere, so it's her notice that you are also going to be looking for someone else.

[Anonymous]

Does she feel like she's supposed to watch the child while she's cleaning or are you 100% in charge of your child? She might be rushing so that she can keep an eye on your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not Ms. Diplomacy so could use some advice on communicating in a constructive non-bitchy way to our nanny. She has been with us just a few months and when we hired her, we agreed that she would do some housecleaning (when she is NOT watching the child) as she needed more hours than we needed of childcare. She has done minor cleaning, like a half hour here and there, and today is the first day I gave her a bloc of two hours to do significant cleaning. I made a list and identified to her the priorities and she did a sh*t-poor job. For example, I told her one of her priorities was cleaning the bathroom and all she did was clean the counters. Not even the sinks! Why would someone clean the counter, but not the sink?!? My bottom line gripe and what I have been feeling for a while is that when I ask her to do cleaning, she always does less than she should. I think she would rather just watch the child and do only minor cleaning, but we agreed that cleaning would be part of the job. I do like how she watches my child, but I pay her a very good above-market rate and feel like I'm overpaying her if she's not going to do the non-childcare part of the job well. I still want to try to make things work with her, so I'd like to communicate to her politely but firmly. Any advice?

OP- wondering how much you oay per hour. Thanks

[Anonymous]

she has two options.
Do XYZ well during down time and make $M.
Or don't do XYZ during downtime and make ($M-N) and you will hire a housekeeper to come 2x a week and do it.

Basically if she can't/won't do the job, you cut her hours and find someone who will or someone else entirely.

Does your child still nap? How old is your child?

Her needing more money or more hours for her personal budget is not your problem. Maybe she needs a different job - a full-time job or something else that gets her the $800-900/week she needs. Not your problem.