EveryNanny is a one stop caregiving platform that was developed to assist with stress-free parenting. EveryNanny provides well trained, professional and experienced caregivers to complement parenting. First News Media interviewed the Team Lead of EveryNanny, Adaobi Lovelyn Ugha. She tells us about EveryNanny, what they offer and her experience as the team lead.
Please give us a brief introduction of yourself and your role at EveryNanny?
My name is Adaobi Lovelyn Ugha, I am a wife and a mother of three boys. I have ten years of experience in Pharmaceutical and HealthCare sales and recently caregiving. I am passionate about adding value to families by creating innovative solutions to problems with caregiving in Nigeria which is why I am part of the EveryNanny Team as the Team Lead.
Can you please tell us about EveryNanny? How did it begin?
EveryNanny is a one-stop caregiving platform that offers a wide range of caregiving, domestic care for families. The EveryNanny platform started because there was a need to assist women who have a challenge with striking a balance with their career, businesses and their homefront. With EveryNanny, it is possible for these women to know that their families, their precious little ones can still get maximum quality care when they are absent.
Can you please explain the various kinds of caregivers selected and what processes do they go through before selection?
Okay, that’s a very important question because when you say EveryNanny people just think it is all about nannies. Aside from nannies and babysitting services, we have housekeepers, chefs, cleaners, elderly caregivers. Recently, we added the home tutor service. Kids with sleeping grades who have difficulty with learning can have that one-on-one interaction with expert tutors which is in addition to traditional schooling. I hope I haven’t missed any of our services, basically, that’s our services in a nutshell.
How are the caregivers selected and what processes do they go through before selection?
Families get to ask these questions a lot. We try to make them understand that first of all we select these nannies carefully. In fact, they go through rigorous selection and background checks. The first thing we do is to select. We have criteria for selection. They are age, academic qualification and their areas of interest.
Okay, let me go back to the age category because we obey the labour law. They must be up to 18. We don’t employ anyone who is less than 18 years old. Once we have all the biodata and it has checked out on all the things we want from them, we do the background check. Now, when we say background check, it means we are visiting the addresses they have provided. We are interacting with their families; we are interacting with their neighbours to be sure they are exactly who they say they are. We also have their BVN with us. Sterling bank is our partner and it makes it easy for us to check their BVN to make sure that every single thing they have provided is exactly what they say when we search. They also provide guarantors. We visit the guarantors to make sure that they can identify these persons in cases of eventualities.
Do customers have access to their history and background?
Sure. If you are bringing in a stranger to your home, it’s only very important that the details be provided to the consumers. So, when we have concluded the verifications and background check, we send the results to the customer. We have looked at what we have done and ensure the customers agree the results are okay so they can let this person into their home. So, yes, we make the information accessible to the customer.
Are training programs provided to the caregiver? If yes, how regular are they and what is the training based on?
When the caregivers have passed the screening and the background checks, the first thing is to give them a basic orientation and training before they are deployed. After they have been deployed, we pull them out once every month with the permission of their employers. This training is based on a course outline that has been designed to ensure the caregivers get value for the training they attend. Our training ranges from Basic grooming, Infant nutrition, Basic child care, Home management, First aid. The list is endless. We ensure that they always get value every time they attend these training sessions.
Asides from the provision of caregivers. Are there other value-added options on EveryNanny platform?
I can say we have quite a few of them. One is the HMO, which we make available for the caregivers. If the caregivers fall sick, they are not under pressure to access medical care. Medical care is readily accessible to them without putting them under any pressure on the employer.
Also, we have our starter pack which makes it easy for the caregivers to settle down when they get to work. The starter pack includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, and sponge. They have access to these basic things without asking the employers. Another value-added service is the nanny uniform. If you want your caregiver to look really professional, we have the uniforms available.
Can you share with us your general experience and challenges you have encountered so far with EveryNanny?
In the caregiving industry, there are a lot of challenges but I am going to mention a few. The sector is still largely informal so there are a lot of people who want to make a career out of caregiving, coming from villages with no one to train them. These are immediately deployed to homes where they are expected to take care of babies, take care of homes. It is a huge challenge. How do you expect someone who is not trained to take care of a newborn or to take care of your home?
Also, there is no available data in the country. We have cases of people who steal and they can’t be traced. These are some of the few challenges. We have also heard and seen cases of how a caregiver has transmitted disease from herself to the children. EveryNanny has identified these problems and tackled them. Our nannies are properly screened. When I say screen, I mean medically. They are tested for diseases like Hepatitis, HIV so that there is no transmission from the caregiver to the families where they care for the children or elderly ones.
From these screenings, data is available in case something happens, there is someone to hold responsible. We go into their homes and we talk to their guarantors. The last thing on the list here is training. The caregivers are trained over and over again so that they understand that this is a profession. And that this is something that they need to take seriously. This is something they need to make a commitment to. So, these are the areas we have faced challenges and how we have tackled them.
What measures has EveryNanny employed to protect the child and the caregiver during this COVID-19 pandemic?
This is a good question. Initially, before the pandemic, we weren’t screening our nannies for cases such as COVID-19. Even now, we still test them for COVID-19. We give the clients the option of testing the caregivers for COVID-19. During the training, we train them on how COVID-19 can be contacted and how it is possible for them to protect themselves. They know all these things. I don’t think we have had any cases of COVID in the past year and I think it is a plus for EveryNanny.
How affordable is the price range for EveryNanny?
I think with everything we have put in place; our prices are quite affordable. We have two different packages. The very first one which is the standard package is N35,000. It is a one-off fee. The client pays once s/he subscribes for the services. It comes with the medical screening, the verification process, the HMO and a replacement plan. So that, in a case where the nanny resigns, there is a replacement.
Asides from the standard plan, we have the premium plan, which is N43,500. Everything I just mentioned earlier is included in this package. The only difference is that the standard package has just one replacement within one year but with the premium plan you have two free replacements within one year including a starter pack for the caregiver.
What is EveryNanny’s projection in terms of customers and nannies in the next five years?
In the next five years, EveryNanny is looking at becoming a household name in the caregiving industry. When you talk of caregivers, EveryNanny comes to mind. Also, we are looking at having a larger pool of employable caregivers. It’s a major problem in the caregiving industry in Nigeria. Right now, we are doing that for free. We are training anyone who wants to make a career out of caregiving and we intend to have a lot of them. We have over 1,000 right now in the next five years we are looking at having over 8,000 caregivers.