November 17, 2021 IN GENERAL
BLACKLISTING CONFINEMENT NANNIES DOES NOT WORK
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Every once in a while, Mummies make complaints about various problems they had with their confinement Nannies. This includes experiences with freelance Nannies as well as those from confinement agencies.
Several posts recounting their experiences suggest that a lot of things could go wrong before or during the confinement. Some of the most frequently reported issues include:
Hiring:
Taking a down payment and passing the job to another Nanny; Last-minute changes to the arrangement; Last-minute cancellation; and Refusal to refund the down payment after cancellation and avoiding calls.
Attitude:
Bad manners and rudeness; Laziness and over-sleeping; Wasting resources; Telling lies; Lack of focus and always on the phone; Over-demanding and having too many special requests; Exploiting the Mummy and over-spending; Accusing the Mummy whenever things with the baby do not turn out as expected; Leaving the job earlier than agreed; and Smoking on the job.
Confinement Skills:
Limited knowledge about confinement practices and baby care; Lack of cooking skills; Poor time management skills; Overfeeding the baby to sleep; Discourage breastfeeding and secretly feeding the baby formula milk against the Mummy’s wishes; Poor hygiene with the baby; Endangering the baby.
Sadly, some Mummies even commented that having a smooth confinement period without experiencing these issues depends on luck. The complaints indicate that there is not much guarantee even with Nannies from confinement agencies. Some also mentioned that Nannies can sometimes turn out to be different from how they sounded on the phone during the interview.
1. NANNY BLACKLISTS
To avoid such experiences, it is necessary to do some research to ensure that the Nanny you wish to hire has not been previously blacklisted. If you are engaging a confinement agency, you can start by consulting them about the Nanny’s personality and performance in previous jobs. Otherwise, proceed to scour the Internet for complaints on blogs and forums, as well as posts on social media groups and individual accounts.
One way Nannies get blacklisted is when the confinement agency they were associated with adds their names to a list of terminated Nannies. This list is usually used to assure Mummies that the available Nannies are of high-quality and necessary actions will be taken in case of any problems.
Another way Nannies get blacklisted is when Mummies share their personal experiences and dissatisfaction on online forums, personal blogs, social media groups, and on their accounts. The posts typically include a description of the events that took place and personal details about the Nanny, such as names, passport number, phone number, and place or country of residence. Some of these posts also alert others about individuals carrying out fraudulent activities under the guise of a confinement agency or freelance Nanny. In such cases, the post may also include photos of the individual.
2. WHY BLACKLISTING DOES NOT WORK
Even with so many blacklists on the Internet, Mummies continue to post new complaints about the same issues every year. This section explores the main reasons why blacklisting confinement Nannies has not been effective in preventing Mummies from going through these experiences.
2.1. Limited Access and Visibility
When it comes to agencies, most of them retain their list of blacklisted Nannies for internal use. As a result, you only have access to their blacklist if you engage them. Only a few agencies provide a list of terminated Nannies on their website for public viewing. Even at that, you can only find these blacklists if you can discover those particular pages on their websites.
As for blacklists on online forums, social media groups, and individual accounts, finding them on the Internet is not always easy. To find specific information on such platforms, the post needs to be visible to the public, and you need to guess the right keywords for your search as well. When it comes to keywords, one thing to bear in mind is that Mummies post their complaints in different languages and use acronyms you may not be aware of.
Another issue with social media groups is limited access. Some of them are not open to the public and require verification to confirm that you are a Mummy and a resident of their country. Further verification may also require you to get a referral from one of their members, and your request could be declined or left pending forever if their admins doubt your eligibility for any reason.
One of the main reasons for this strict membership policy is that they want Mummies to openly post complaints about their experiences without being concerned by the presence of Nannies. Unfortunately, not every Mummy will be able to gain membership, as they might not be residents of the specified country or may not know anyone from the group to refer them. Even when you manage to join these groups, the lack of dedicated search tools could make it difficult to confirm whether the Nanny you wish to hire is on their blacklist.
2.2. Lack of a General Database
A major limitation of agency blacklists is that they are usually composed of only their previous employees. Hence, provided the Nannies can still get confinement jobs in the country, there is no way to be sure if those who were blacklisted in one agency have continued to work with another agency. As for online blacklists, they are spread across various platforms and not everyone has the time and patience for conducting detailed research to confirm that a Nanny is not on any of them.
2.3. One-sided Opinion
Online blacklists often focus on only one side of the story. Whenever a Mummy makes complaints about a Nanny’s service, everyone reading the post tend to forget that two parties were involved and either one or both of them could be at fault. It is also very rare to find Nannies responding to complaints about their service, and this is partly because they are often unaware of such posts. This makes blacklisting generally biased against Nannies.
On Facebook, for instance, you might not be aware of a post that concerns you if the author is not your friend. You cannot know what is being said about you in groups you have not joined as well. Some Nannies have voiced their feelings concerning this matter after finding out about such posts against their services from someone else. This is even worse with online forums and blogs, where you might wake up one day only to realize that your name and personal information have been shared on a blacklist some years ago. Imagine the feeling of making such a discovery and not being able to defend yourself or share your side of the story.
2.4. Neglecting Previous Records
Just like the saying “one mistake can undo years of good work”, it only takes one bad complaint on the Internet to taint a Nanny’s career. When it comes to online blacklists, people usually make conclusions based on only one Mummy’s personal experience. However, without considering previous records, there is no proof that other Mummies will also feel the same way about the Nanny. The Nanny may have always provided excellent services for her previous Mummies, with only that specific case turning out differently. This is something that is typically neglected when blacklisting Nannies.
It is important to bear in mind that good cooperation between a Mummy and Nanny often requires both of them to share some common values and preferences. So one Mummy’s personal opinion about a Nanny should be taken with a grain of salt until reports from other Mummies who have also received the Nanny’s services indicate a pattern. Without such a pattern, consideration needs to be given to the Nanny’s side of the story.
2.5. Does not give a Second Chance
Just like most professions with a learning curve, Nannies are also expected to improve their skills as they gain more experience while taking care of different Mummies and babies. That is why Nannies need access to Mummy feedbacks to continue improving their performance. Unfortunately, the blacklisting system does not encourage the kind of constructive criticism that helps Nannies to improve. Instead, most of the feedback from Mummies are either awesome recommendations or bad complaints. Continuing with this system will only do more harm to the confinement community as the years go by.
2.6. Freelance Nannies pay the Price
Blacklists tend to leave a bad impression on freelance Nannies in particular. After considering the risks involved, some Mummies may no longer feel safe to hire a freelance confinement Nanny, even though some of the Nannies in the complaints were acquired from agencies. For example, consider the situation where a Mummy finds the services of an agency’s Nanny unbearable. Upon making a complaint, the agency offers to provide another Nanny. The moral of the story becomes: it is safer to deal with agencies rather than freelance Nannies because some agencies can provide a replacement.
Mummies feel safer with an agency because they provide a certain degree of guarantee and also take responsibility if anything goes wrong with the service. The same cannot be said for freelance confinement because it seems like the Nanny can always disappear and much cannot be done to affect her status in the profession. This is unfortunate because the freelance confinement industry holds a high calibre of reputable Nannies that have received professional training from different confinement institutions in their early years and have also gained vast experience as freelancers working with Mummies and babies in different countries.
2.7. Identification Challenges
To identify Nannies, blacklists include personal details such as names, passport number, phone number, and place or country of residence. Unfortunately, more than one person can have the same names, details such as passport and phone numbers can always be changed, and the place of residence can be falsified. This makes it quite difficult to confirm whether a Nanny has been previously blacklisted and attempts to do so might just be too much of a hassle for expectant mothers. In the end, the blacklisted Nannies still get hired and unfortunate Mummies still experience the same problems.
2.8. Lack of Awareness
Despite all the warnings on the Internet, new Mummies continue to experience the same problems. For example, some expectant mothers still make down payments to strangers and fall prey to scams. This is because the issues with the online blacklisting system have made it difficult to create awareness. In most cases, Mummies join these blacklisting groups to post their complaints only after a bad experience. As a result, the groups seem to be concentrated on Mummies who have already undergone their confinement rather than expectant mothers who have more to gain.
3. MUMMYNANNY’S SOLUTION
As you can see, there are various reasons why blacklisting Nannies is not an effective way to prevent expectant mothers from hiring the same Nannies. MummyNanny was created with these issues in mind and provides a one-stop solution to access the performance of Nannies from their previous records. The platform also creates a chance for Nannies to learn from previous experiences and improve their understanding of different Mummies and babies as they continue to get more jobs.
3.1. Money-back Guarantee
One of the main concerns with the freelance confinement industry is the lack of security when hiring a Nanny. The available methods of making a down payment are vulnerable to scams and many Mummies have lost their money in the process. Other Mummies find it impossible to get a refund and are forced to accept new conditions set by the Nanny. MummyNanny addresses this issue by providing a way to make down payments through the platform instead of directly paying to the Nanny. This way, the Nanny receives the down payment only after arriving at your home and you get refunded if she fails to turn up as agreed.
3.2. The Nanny Evaluation System
Blacklisting Issues addressed:
Lack of a General Database; Limited Access and Visibility; Does not give a Second Chance; One-sided Opinion.
Once you make a down payment through the MummyNanny platform, you will gain access to a portfolio where you will manage and record the progress of the job. Think of it as a diary to record your experiences with the Nanny during confinement. You will be able to add entries to the portfolio once the Nanny arrives at your home. A portfolio consists of sections for adding photos and reviews about the service you received as well as recommendations for the Nanny. There is also a section that requires you to evaluate the Nanny’s performance. This gives her an idea of the aspects of her service that require improvement and those that she needs to maintain. The portfolio also allows the Nanny to add photos and share her side of the experience, thereby eliminating the issue of a one-sided input.
3.3. Job Portfolios
Blacklisting Issues Addressed:
Neglecting Previous Records; Freelance Nannies pay the Price.
Mummies play a very important role in advancing the confinement community when they take part in the Nanny Evaluation System. The system is specifically designed so that they refrain from exaggerated reviews as much as possible and provide contributions that help other Mummies to make the right hiring decisions. This helps to ensure trustworthy evaluations, reviews and recommendations in job portfolios. Since the assessments Nannies get for each job are publicly available on their profiles, you can gain more insight into the aspects of their service that matters most to you and can better determine the most suitable person for your job. This effectively eliminates the need to go about searching for blacklists on various platforms and also allows you to consider previous records of Nannies.
3.4. Nanny Rank and Experience Points
Blacklisting Issue Addressed:
Identification Problems.
One reason why blacklisted Nannies are still being hired is that they can always change the information that is used to identify them on the blacklist. That is why MummyNanny eliminates the need to rely on personal information by focusing on Portfolios, Nanny Ranks and Experience Points instead. Experience points are prized possessions to Nannies because they get only one point for each job they complete on the platform. The more experience points a Nanny accumulates, the more reluctant she will be to discard her account even if her rank is affected by a Mummy’s review in one of her portfolios. In most cases, she will rather try to provide a better service in her next job to improve her rank. In the worst-case scenario where she decides to create a new MummyNanny account, she will not be able to transfer her previous records. As a result, her new account will have no portfolio, experience point or rank, thereby making it easier for Mummies to identify and decide whether or not they wish to hire her.
3.5. Tailored for Confinement Nannies
Blacklisting Issues Addressed:
Lack of a General Database; Lack of Awareness.
It is difficult to create awareness about blacklists when they are scattered over various agencies and online platforms. Having everything in one place makes it easier to create awareness among expectant mothers. MummyNanny brings Mummies and Nannies from all over the world together on one platform. Any user can find Nannies and get in touch with them through the contact information provided on their profiles.
Create a free account today to start your journey with MummyNanny.