Why Performance Reviews? Giving employees written evaluations is part of being an employer. These evaluations are important to keep your working relationship with your nanny healthy and strong. It is crucial to take the time and energy to share with your nanny all successes as well as the areas that are in need of improvement that you notice. Performance reviews also come into play if you need to terminate the relationship or when it is time for you to write a reference letter at the end of nanny’s time with you. Written reviews create a paper trail should it ever be needed.
Planning the Meeting The best way to approach the evaluation is to provide a written evaluation and a meeting to discuss the issues. This meeting allows for time and a platform for nanny to bring up any work related issues and for you both to touch base. It is wise to plan a time that you can be uninterrupted. If you are asking the nanny to stay late or come in early, it is good to plan to compensate the nanny for that time. Nanny evaluations should be done at the very least yearly, but in the first year it is not uncommon to have a six month review as well. This meeting is also a great time to review job description and contract adding and subtracting duties and expectations as your family grows and changes.
Evaluation Decide how this will go and what works best for you. One method would be for the nanny to fill out evaluation and for you as the employers to fill out evaluation and go over both. Or you can simply fill out the evaluation yourself. Either way is fine. If you are giving the nanny the evaluation to do, be sure to give the nanny a week or so to complete before the meeting. Once you are in the meeting you will want to be sure to go over each area and point out strengths as well as areas that may need improvement. Remember that one big difference between an office setting and an in-home setting in regards to employment is that your nanny is likely highly invested emotionally in your family. Not every nanny is the same, but as a whole, the in-home employee evaluation may be more emotionally charged than a corporate situation. Work together to find solutions or plans to any areas where improvement is needed. Be firm and clear in expectations so that all parties are on the same page.
Wrapping Up After you finish the evaluation, take a few minutes to conduct a team review making changes to the job description and contract if needed. Then make sure a paper copy of the evaluation and updated paperwork is signed and dated by all parties. It may seem formal, but it is an important step. Make a copy for nanny, a shared copy for your home binder/nanny journal, and a copy for your personal records. Be sure to set a date for your next evaluation so that everyone knows the timeline of any modifications and improvements that have been discussed.
A Word about Raises Evaluation time is often a time to consider a raise in the pay rate. For most nannies, this will happen once a year. An amazing nanny is a nanny you want to keep happy. If this is not a time you are able to increase pay, consider a bonus or the addition of perks such as PTO days, extra vacation days, contributions to health insurance or retirement (tax benefits to you and nanny on these), mileage points for travel or any other ways to show you appreciate the hard work of your nanny.
For help with your next performance evaluation, check out our Nanny Evaluation Kit. This handy 6 page package comes with a 2 page nanny evaluation, a family meeting checklist and suggestions for both nannies and parents regarding nanny evaluations. Evaluations are wonderful tools to help improve communication, job performance and also strengthen your relationship. Done yearly, they can help nannies grow and develop as professionals and also are a great help to determine compensation increases.