In this episode of On the House: The Household Management Science Insights Podcast, host Gabriella Joustra talks to Louise Dunham about the role of household managers and the importance of having them.
Louise Dunham, the CEO of Placement Solutions, Just Family Payroll Pty. Ltd., and Nurture Training College. Founded in 1988, Placement Solutions provides a place to find and hire professional nannies and household managers. Placement Solutions ensures its clients are supported, respected, and paid legally. In 2017, Louise published a book called The State Of The Nanny, a definitive look at this sector of the childcare industry.
In 2018, Louise won two prestigious awards from the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies, based in the United States, and she was part of the APNA awards committee that presented Barbara Kline of White House Nannies in Washington, DC, the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Household managers are often hired by busy, high-earning individuals or families who don’t have time to manage their homes on top of their hectic work and personal lives. For example, clients don’t have time to book a plumber and then wait around all day for the plumber to arrive, this is the role of the household manager.
The duties of a household manager are varied, from accepting mail to preparing and cooking healthy meals. However, it is important to note what a household manager isn’t. Household managers aren’t cleaners, nor are they childminders. Louise says that while these jobs are often conflated, part of Placement Solution’s goal is to ensure the legal rights and duties of nannies and household managers.
In the episode, Louise also talks about what kinds of people become household managers, how to get children involved in household management, and some common issues household managers face.
The pandemic has demonstrated how important good home management is to our well-being, and for those of us who don’t have the time to manage our homes, there is assistance out there.
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