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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 Bayly Silverman, owner of Your Happy Nest.
Agency Vitals
- Founded in 2012
- Serves the Atlanta, Augusta, Charleston, and Cincinnati metro areas
- Specializes in long-term nanny placements, but also offers temporary care, hotel and event child care, and local babysitting memberships
How did you get started?
I was living in Atlanta and managing another nanny agency while working as a part time nanny as well. In 2012, I became pregnant and decided to open my own agency to help families find quality caregivers at the level of care that I had provided during my time as a nanny. I understood what both families and nannies needed to make placements work. I moved to Charleston in 2015 and opened an office there, and around the same time, staff members from the Atlanta office had moved to Augusta and Cincinnati, so I also opened branches in those cities.
What is your biggest challenge?
It’s always challenging to find quality caregivers who are dedicated to being a nanny as a career. Often I have found quality candidates who were only interesting in being a nanny as a stepping stone to something else. The other challenge is ensuring good communication between families and nannies. It’s critical for working through issues, so I always try to foster effective communication practices before and during placements.
What strategies do you use for recruiting candidates?
We use many resources to grow our candidate pool, including social media and online job boards. My goal is to be a positive member of the nanny community in the cities where we have agencies. We organize nanny playdates and we’ve held resume writing training sessions, as well as participating in National Nanny Training Day. We are always on the lookout for dedicated, career-oriented nannies.
How do you advertise/market your agency? / How do you find new families?
Having a community presence helps to get our name out there. We partner with businesses that cater to the same clientele, such as fitness studios, chiropractors, pediatric offices, and OBGYN offices. We also rely heavily on word of mouth and referrals – it’s important to maintain good relationships with former clients.
How do you distinguish yourself from online agencies? / How do you show your value?
Agencies offer a completely different service than online job sites. The biggest difference is the time savings, especially for families who haven’t hired a nanny before. Hiring online is a frustrating process – there are too many applicants to sift through, most of whom are not qualified for a family’s needs. We do all that legwork, going through candidates to find ones that are potentially good matches. First-time families are nervous about interviewing, payment and benefits, taxes, etc. We ease their mind and do all we can to set up a successful relationship.
How do you help families understand paying their employee legally?
We do an in-home consultation with all our long-term families, and we bring up this subject each time. We provide families with GTM materials so they have all the information they need. Most families simply don’t know their obligations when it comes to paying their nanny, but once we explain it, most want to pay legally.
How do you help nannies understand the benefits of being paid legally?
I’ve seen a big shift over recent years of more and more nannies wanting to be paid on the books. Most now understand that if they want to rent an apartment, buy a house or car, or file for unemployment benefits, they need an income and credit history, and they won’t have that unless they are paid legally.
How has GTM helped your agency and your families?
Having a partner that specializes in household payroll and taxes is very important to us. I’ve had families that received bad advice from their accountants – many don’t understand the differences when it comes to household employment laws. With an expert like GTM, we know our families will have their responsibilities explained clearly, and that’s very valuable to not just our agency, but to our industry as a whole.
What are some fun facts about you or your agency?
We have the great fortune of providing child care to the players and staff of the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks! During home games, they can drop their kids off in a room of the facility and our staff supervises them. It’s a fun experience for our nannies, they really enjoy it. I’m also proud to have just received the INA Membership Conference Endowment for 2018! I look forward to seeing many of you in Tucson in May.
