Many business owners are finding that getting employees is tough these days. Well, as cannabis marketing specialists, we know that’s not so much the case with the cannabis industry.
As a dispensary or other cannabis business owner, you’ve probably found the bigger issue is keeping your current cannabis workforce. Given the competition in the industry, those with solid experience are getting recruited by other operators.
So what can you do to retain your employees? There are four areas where you should focus.
Keeping Your Cannabis Workforce
Owning a cannabis business is not like trying to run a fast food joint or franchise store. The sole focus is not making money. Your business needs to be sustainable and have a mission if it’s to survive in the industry. And that means your company’s values need to in line with those of the industry and your employees.
If you’re currently having trouble with employee retention, consider the following four questions:
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What Does Your Company Culture Look Like?
Think about it. Many of your employees will spend more time at your business than they’ll spend with their friends and/or families. So if you want them to stick around, it’s important that your company values are aligned with theirs.
Be sure that those values are clearly defined at the outset. You’re far more likely to retain an employee who’s committed and excited to come to work than one who’s bucking up against the company culture.
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Do You Offer a Compensation and Benefits Package?
If you don’t have one at all, you can kiss your employees goodbye.
The old days (like even just three years ago) are over where you might be able to get away with this. As the industry grows and evolves and talent is showing up from other sectors, the compensations trends are changing.
To get and keep employees, you need to be willing to bump their salaries and offer benefits to keep them to stay. Yeah, you might be resistant to spending more money, but consider how much more it costs to train a new employee. Speaking of which…
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How Much Do You Put Into Training and Development?
Does your current training and development regimen give employees the skills they need for internal mobility?
Knowing that they’re not locked into just one job and capable of choosing from multiple opportunities will give them longer term job security. In fact, if you can, sit down with your employees and ask them where they see themselves in the future of your company.
From there, you can help them build a career path that falls in line with both their professional goals and those of your company.
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Do Your Employees Feel Free to Speak Up?
Of course, if your employees don’t feel they’re in an environment where they can even discuss the above point #3, then that’s a red light.
Employees are far more likely to stay at jobs where they can be heard and feel safe in speaking their opinions. That means that rather than just assuming they all want the big company barbecue each year, ask them if they’d make more use of more paid time off or better discounts, for example.
In a nutshell, in order to understand if your company perks are aligned with the culture of your employees, there needs to be an environment of free, safe, and open discourse.
Is Your Cannabis Business Struggling to Get Noticed?
Keeping your cannabis workforce is an important factor to your success. And it’s a big one.
But your marketing efforts are equally important. So if you’re struggling to get noticed in this increasingly saturated market, contact us today.
We’ve been in the cannabis marketing and public relations business since the very beginning and we know what works.