Welcoming Your Nanny: ORIENTATION Binder TEMPLATE/Sample

The time has come to begin preparing for your nanny's arrival...how exciting! Providing your nanny with quality orientation and training is essential to setting them up for success! This component is how you contribute to a positive experience. Everyone can relate to those first day jitters in a new job; most of what's being said to you might even go right over your head under the pressure of it all. Have you ever started a job and not been provided with an orientation binder???...'tisk tisk' is the sound of my finger wagging at your employer if you answered "yes" to this question!...you should ALWAYS be provided with an orientation binder and training regardless of the job. Now imagine if your job took place in someone else's home, this might intensify your feelings of anxiousness around knowing what to do and what not to do.

In order to start the experience off on the right foot with your nanny, do them a favour, and make their job just a little bit easier by providing them with lots of information about their job. As someone who has worked as a caregiver (both live-in and live-out) I can tell you that it is an overwhelming job to jump in to, and all of those little itty bitty details about where the silverware polish (who uses that stuff anyways) and laundry detergent (now that we use) are kept can go right over your head when you're amidst a major life transition. This orientation binder will help your nanny to feel at ease and rest assured that some of the information that you're telling them a mile-a-minute is written down somewhere.

But the buck doesn't stop here. You also need to put together some structured training. This may include going over specific tasks (performing them while they watch and then having them perform them while you watch and provide feedback), and shadowing you and your family so that they can see how you parent, play, discipline, and interact with your children and the world. You could go to do the grocery shopping, or out for dinner. This shadowing experience wouldn't require the nanny to jump in yet as a caregiver, but merely to absorb your unique family culture. Stay tuned for a post with a template/sample training guide. 

Whatever you choose to do and however you choose to do it, just remember - the first days, weeks and months of your time with your nanny are formative in how they will understand their job, view you, and be with your family. Take the time to think about how to communicate your expectations clearly and create an open comfortable rapport. Being clear in the beginning about how you want things done is critical to avoiding a situation with festering resentments (for either party...which don't need to exist). So long as you keep communication calm, upbeat, and respectful, nothing should be off limits to discuss. 

Good luck and happy orientating (is that really a word?)...

ORIENTATION BINDER TEMPLATE/SAMPLE HERE

Did you find this information helpful?...Comment below and let me know. :-)

Did I miss something that would be helpful in the orientation binder??...comment below and let me know.