Each month we highlight one of our agency partners, and get to know a little more about them and their insights into the household employment industry. This month we spoke with Manon Doll-McGhee, owner of Nannies of Kansas City.
Agency Vitals
- Founded in 1983
- Serves the greater Kansas City area
- Specializes in full- and part-time nannies, babysitters, corporate backup care, sick care, and event child care
How did your agency get started?
I’m the agency’s third owner. I was living in Houston but looking to move back to Kansas City to be closer to my family. My parents met the previous owners and suggested that I take over the agency. I liked the agency’s personal approach to helping people, so in 2015 I became the owner.
What is your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is finding nannies who are looking to make a career out of it, who are committed long-term to the industry. The difficulty in finding these nannies could be due to our location, but I’ve also found that many looking to go into child care are drawn more to teaching than being a nanny. They may not realize that full-time nannies make good salaries, possibly more than teachers, and they’re not sure where to start down that career path.
What strategies do you use for recruiting candidates?
Our best candidates come from word of mouth. Our caregivers meet others at play groups, day cares, etc., and recommend they come work for the agency. We also recruit at local colleges. In addition, we have a large number of candidates who find us online, either by Google or our Facebook page.
How do you advertise/market your agency? / How do you find new families?
About half of our families come via a referral from another family or one of our nannies. But we also work with the HR departments at area companies, offering discounts on registrations for their employees that need our services. We’ve tried traditional advertising in print publications, but I’ve found it to not be very effective. We also work with churches, the Jewish Community Center, and fitness centers to provide child care, which helps our agency get exposed to more potential clients.
How do you distinguish yourself from online agencies and show your value?
The most obvious distinction we provide is the personal touch. I visit all our families and get to know them well, which makes both them and our nannies feel more comfortable. There’s a level of trust that an agency can provide which families and nannies can’t get through online sites. We tout our experience in knowing how to make successful placements, and emphasize that we do the hours of work it takes to interview and screen candidates so the families don’t have to.
How do you help your families understand paying their employee legally?
We provide all our new families with a folder of GTM materials that explain their tax and payroll requirements, and we let them know that our nannies expect to be paid legally. We also provide GTM’s sheets with tax breakdowns so they know how much they can expect to pay.
How do you help nannies/employees understand the benefits of being paid legally?
I always explain why it’s important to be paid on the books, so they aren’t stuck later when they need to show a work or credit history, or if they are injured on the job. Some nannies would rather have a larger payday with no taxes taken out, but I help them understand why it could end up costing them more down the line. I also explain the difference between gross and net wages when they are negotiating their salary.
What are some fun facts about you or your agency?
I’m proud of the presence we have in our community. We provide child care for several non-profit events, including the KVC Foster Care retreat, the Midwest Hemophilia Foundation conference, and we do child care for the Kansas City Chiefs’ players’ retreat. In addition to year-round child care, we also run a summer camp every year at Hallbrook Country Club.
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