A wish list isn’t a job description.
The Sustainable Role Framework gives you a practical, repeatable process for helping families define what they need, determine what realistically fits, identify the skills and experience needed to succeed in the role, and create a position that works in practice, not just on paper.
You’re already seeing the problem.
Hybrid and family assistant positions are everywhere, but there’s still no shared understanding of what those jobs should look like.
Mother’s helper, nanny/family assistant, family assistant, nanny manager, nanny/household manager. The titles are almost meaningless because there’s no standard definition, and the responsibilities are even harder to define.
Families come to you with a long list of what they want someone to handle, often along with expectations like “pitch in,” “see what needs to be done,” or “help whenever needed.” But what does that actually mean?
The real question is can one person do this job successfully, within the time available, at the level the family expects, while still providing the quality of childcare the family needs?
When the answer isn’t a confident yes before recruiting begins:
✓job descriptions can read like a list of red flags
✓strong candidates don’t apply to positions that feel overwhelming
✓families expect more than the position can realistically provide
✓placement teams spend time recruiting for jobs that are difficult, if not impossible, to fill
✓unclear expectations lead to placed professionals who quickly become overwhelmed and burn out
✓preventable problems turn into turnover and replacement guarantees
You have the expertise and the opportunity to solve the problem before the job ever reaches a candidate.
I’ll give you the framework and language to help you do it.
In this training, you’ll learn how to talk about it.
Creating a sustainable position almost always includes guiding clients through decisions they may not want to make. One of the biggest challenges is helping families make the trade-offs necessary to create a position that can actually deliver on what matters most.
We’ll unpack the language and strategies you can use to help families understand:
✓why everything on the wish list may not fit
✓how childcare changes the employee’s available capacity
✓how the level of initiative and autonomy the employee has in managing responsibilities changes the workload
✓how the same responsibility can create very different amounts of work in different households
✓how the skill level required by the job needs to align with the type of candidate the family wants to hire
✓that when the job is simply too big for one person, something has to give
You’ll learn how to offer options without turning the conversation into a battle over whether the family is asking for “too much.”
You’ll give your placement team shared language for these conversations, creating a consistent client experience and a more efficient, aligned placement team.
The Sustainable Role Framework
Six decisions that shape the job.
- Role
- Scope
- Capacity
- Ownership
- Volume
- Default Workload
In the class, we’ll walk through how to use the framework during client intake and position development.
You’ll learn how to help families:
✓identify whether they’re actually hiring a nanny, hybrid, or family assistant
✓move from wish list to accurately defining the scope of the role
✓determine how much time is realistically available for family assistant work after childcare
✓decide how much initiative and autonomy belong with the employee
✓understand the actual volume created by each responsibility
✓compare the proposed workload to the employee’s available capacity
✓identify the skills and experience the position requires so you can recruit the right candidates
✓establish which responsibilities need to be protected when everything can’t get done
✓recognize when the position itself needs to change
I'm so excited about this training!
Like everything else in life, communication is key. I’ve spent decades in the nanny industry and in conflict resolution as a certified mediator, communications trainer, and conflict coach. I infuse that combination of expertise and well-honed skills into every resource I create.
Hybrid and family assistant roles have been a significant part of my work for years, from creating and teaching the popular Becoming a Top-Notch Family Assistant course, to consulting with families hiring for these roles, to continuing to adapt the A to Z Nanny Contract to reflect today’s market. I’m bringing those pieces together in this training: the mechanics of the Sustainable Role Framework, plus the scripting and language that help you bring the framework to life for your clients.
Class details
Date: Thursday, October 22
Time: 9 to 11 AM PST / Noon to 2 PM ET
Format: Live online, with lifetime access to the audio and video recordings
What’s included
✓Live two-hour online class
✓Lifetime access to the audio and video recordings
✓Comprehensive notes and related handouts
✓Sustainable Role at a Glance: a summary sheet to share with your clients
✓Areas of Responsibility List: more than 120 specific tasks across 11 areas
The Areas of Responsibility List
More than 120 specific tasks, organized into 11 areas. Each task is broad enough to give families the flexibility they need, yet defined clearly enough to protect the professional’s time and energy.
✓Child-Related Tasks
✓Food
✓Clothing
✓Home Reset & Upkeep
✓Calendar & Schedule Management
✓Shopping & Stocking
✓Household Maintenance, Repair & Improvement
✓Pets
✓Travel
✓Event Planning
✓Admin
Early bird pricing ends Wednesday, September 30. Save 25% when you register now.
Team registrations are for staff at the same agency.