Wave goodbye to expensive agency hiring fees and welcome Elite Private Staff Online. We caught up with Sharan Gill who owns Nanny Smart, to tell us a bit about her and why she started Elite Private Staff Online.
- Â Please introduce yourself
My name is Sharan Gill and I own and run Nanny Smart – an introduction service matching families and private household staff since 2004. Prior to founding Nanny Smart, I enjoyed a successful professional nanny career for over 15 years. I was blessed to work for amazing families.
I have worked in various childcare education settings, but being a Nanny was the perfect role for me. I gained job satisfaction from being able to work closely and nurture children, as well as, contributing to their learning and development. Coming from a close-knit busy family with seven siblings, working in a family home was a comfortable environment.
I take pride in the services I provide which I feel has been the main driver of my success. As well as holding formal childcare qualifications, I am CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personal Development) trained which allows me guide and support parents employer’s legal responsibilities.
2. Tell us about Elite Private Staff Online and what makes it unique.
www.eliteprivatestaff.online is an online hiring platform designed for families seeking qualified, trained professional household staff. The business model is based on cutting-out the middleman – eliminating the unnecessary costs associated with traditional agencies.
Many if not all industries have experienced a digital transformation where technology and digital tools are used to either replace or improve the manual processes. Using technology and my market expertise, I challenged every rule in the recruitment cycle and process to create an online platform which offers a traditional style agency service but without the high costs. The platform gives both the employer and talent control of their search with quality and safety as the top priorities. With the pandemic changing the way we work it was the perfect time to launch.
3. What inspired you?
The inspiration behind www.eliteprivatestaff.online comes from my day-to-day work. I found that once I had created a shortlist of suitable candidates and set-up the initial interviews either via video call, phone, or face to face, clients would and are more than capable of organising the next steps. Talent too prefer to have direct contact with the prospective employer. It gives a better feel for the position and if it is the right match for them. Working in a family home is a personal service and the employer and talent having contact from the start helps build a better working relationship.
4. What solution does it provide?
Cost effective hiring. Traditional agencies introduction fee charges up to 15% of the candidates’ annual salary. That can range between £1,000 – £3,000 + VAT. The www.eliteprivatestaff.online platform is currently free to use with the view that in the near future, the employer will be required to pay only £79.99 for each vacancy published.
Efficiency and direct hiring  Saves time that would normally be spent registering with agencies and sifting through a large batch of CVs. Direct hiring helps nurture a better working relationship encourages feelings of loyalty and commitment from staff.
5. What do you mean when you say Quality and Safety are our top priorities.
Parents use agencies for a peace of mind that the candidate has been vetted and is of a high standard. www.eliteprivatestaff.online delivers quality by ensuring all talent profiles meet the set elite criteria (qualified with three years minimum checkable experience and an enhanced DBS certificate). A team of experienced consultants are working in the background vetting key documents to ensure safety. These documents are stored on our secure system and removed when the talent deletes their profile. Parents of course tend to carry out reference checks regardless of whether the agency has – which I encourage. A parent speaking to another parent as well as their agent is important and helps to provide a true and honest picture.
6. Who are your competitors?
We do not have one! There are several platforms where a job seeker can upload their profile and apply for vacancies posted by the parent but none that provide the unique offering and service we do. Talent must meet the set elite criteria to ensure we only have the best talent and people that are suitable to work in professional homes. All talent documents are checked and video introductions support a quicker and efficient hiring process. Our team of consultants are working in the background and can be easily reached. We are here to help the process at every stage.
7. About UK Nanny Matters Campaign
I am very passionate about supporting the UK Nanny Matters campaign set-up by Helen McCarthy, Maria Culley and Allie Bell, all qualified and respected childcare professionals. The campaign aim is to have nannies recognised as professionals by advocating and regulating Nannies in all childcare settings. All other childcare industries are regulated which means that workers must be trained and safety checked. The pandemic further highlighted the importance of this regulation. It took months and a lot of noise for the government to include nannies in the furlough scheme. Please support us by signing the petition https://www.change.org/p/the-uk-nannies-matter-campaign
