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On another occasion, I found myself on the phone with an infuriated mother who had a list of complaints about her nanny.  None of the things on the list were big issues on their own but combined they were affecting the working relationship.  The major problem I could detect through listening carefully to what the mom was telling me had to do with punctuality and not always being on point.  The more she spoke though, the more this mom was telling me how fantastic the nanny was and what a good job she was doing in all other regards.

Now that I had a good idea of what was bothering the mom, I could approach the nanny and discuss it with her.  I took the opportunity to coach and mentor her about how late coming was affecting her employer’s perception of her.  We also spoke about the duties she was expected to perform and how to prioritize them so that she could fit them all into the day’s routine.  Once again, the nanny was disappointed that she had let her employer down and determined to change what she was doing and improve.  Once her levels of professionalism were raised, she built a solid working relationship with the family that had employed her.

I have found that ‘teething problems’ often occur when a nanny has been placed with a family.  It is a job where the employee becomes involved very closely with the personal life of the employer.  Hiring a nanny is not the same as hiring a secretary.  The commodity the nanny works with, the child, is precious to the employer so their vested interest is greater.   Children evoke in parents emotive reactions.

Patience, communication, and commitment are the keys to ensuring a successful mother-nanny relationship.  Swift action leads to minimized problems and happy moms.