For families
How we work with households
A visit to every house, a written brief, candidates we have met, and discretion from the first call to the last. We have worked this way since 1961.
The first conversation
Most households come to us through another household. The first conversation is usually a telephone call with Caroline Rendle or one of our senior consultants, and it is usually short: what the household needs, by when, and whether we are the right people to find it. If we are not, we will say so, and where we can we will say who is.
We visit every house
We have never placed anyone with a household we did not first visit, and we do not intend to start. A consultant comes to the house, meets the principals, walks the rooms with whoever runs them, sees the staff quarters and the kitchen, and listens. The visit takes about two hours. It is the most important part of a search, and it is free.
A written brief
From the visit we write a brief: the role, its duties and hours, the household and its rhythms, the salary and what comes with it, and what the household is really looking for, which is often not quite what it first asked for. The household agrees the brief before we begin. Every candidate we put forward has read it.
Candidates we know
We search our own register first. Most of the staff we place are people we have known for years, have placed before, or have trained on our course. When we search beyond the register we do so discreetly, and we never approach staff employed by a household we act for. Every candidate we put forward has been interviewed by us in person and checked by Diane Okoro’s vetting team, and has had at least two references taken up by telephone.
After the placement
We call both sides at thirty days and at ninety, and every year after that for as long as the placement lasts. Every permanent placement carries a ninety-day guarantee. And the duty line, (206) 014-6182, is answered at every hour of every day, for every household and every member of staff we place.
They came to the house, walked every room, and asked my husband one question about the dogs that nobody else had ever thought to ask. We have used nobody else since.
Where to go next
- The placement process, stage by stage.
- Fees and guarantees.
- Temporary and seasonal staff.
- Employing household staff: agreements, payroll and the law.
- Confidentiality: our agreements and our own discretion.