Cannabis Executives Put “Human” in “Human Resources”: How Canna Companies Are Attracting and Retaining Talent
Human resources (HR): the business department that is supposed to be responsible for ensuring employees are treated fairly, compensated adequately, and are able to work in a safe environment. Yet, many employees dislike their company’s HR department and feel as though members of HR do not genuinely care about them.
A recent survey from Secure Data Recovery shows:
- 43 percent of American employees don’t feel as though they can confide in their HR team.
- Over 1/3 don’t trust their company’s HR department.
- 47 percent of those who work in small companies think their company’s HR structure is unprofessional.
Meanwhile, 50 percent of Americans believe having no HR department at all contributes to a toxic workplace.
So where’s the sweet spot? Is it possible for human resources departments to amp up their efforts to better satisfy and retain employees? The short answer is yes.
The long answer suggests that today’s human resources teams need to embody just what their department name signifies: humanity. What I mean is HR leaders need to stop treating employees like numbers in a spreadsheet and more like people.
This is an ideology we’re steadily seeing rise in the cannabis industry. As of early 2024, there were 440, 445 full-time equivalent jobs in the legal cannabis industry — a 5.4 percent increase from 2023. But the turnover rate in cannabis is among one of the highest in any industry at an estimated 40 percent to 60 percent. Even the National Cannabis Industry Association assumes this turnover is due to the infancy of the legal cannabis industry and its lack of time and resources to focus on the level of training large corporations have.
To combat this high turnover and grow a loyal employee base, cannabis business leaders today are establishing innovative HR strategies centered on a humanistic approach. Here is what they’re focusing on:
Creating a Compassionate Culture: The initial step toward cultivating a humanistic approach to HR is to have compassion and empathy with your staff. It’s important to be empathetic with your employees and take the time to understand their needs. Just as you would expect them to do when handling customer accounts or sales.
Brendan McKee, Co-Founder, CFO and COO of Silver Therapeutics, a privately owned and operated cannabis retailer and multi-state operator, went on record in an Authority Magazine interview to say it’s important to “prioritize listening to and supporting [your] team members, understanding that their satisfaction directly impacts customer care. You need to be empathetic and put yourself in other people’s shoes. It’s a lot easier to be kind, and it is much more effective when leading a company.”
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This level of compassion has led the company to achieve a 90 percent-plus year-over-year retention rate as Brendan indicated in an interview with BudsFeed.
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Investing in Employee Growth: Providing opportunities for career development whether the employees are budtenders (cannabis retail associates) or are managing the entire cultivation process is vital to retaining happy staff. This education can take place in the form of a comprehensive onboarding program, ongoing industry training or industry-agnostic professional growth opportunities.
Especially in the cannabis industry where regulations, laws and research are changing day by day, education is crucial to the growth of individuals looking to grow their career in cannabis. And therefore, cannabis leaders are prioritizing providing this education as a critical aspect of keeping their employees satisfied and their business afloat.
Offering Competitive Compensation & Benefits: A 2021 survey found 63 percent of people quit their jobs due to low pay. While cannabis businesses today are typically smaller than major corporations, their leaders understand the importance of fair pay for their employees. Cannabis businesses are offering not only attractive salary packages, but also comprehensive benefits and bonuses.
According to a Vangst survey, high-value cannabis employees experienced a significant pay jump over the last year as “top-end salaries rose 4.7%.” Comparatively, the average increase in pay in non-cannabis industries is 4.1 percent.
Implementing HR Technology to Bolster the Employee Experience: Recruitment platforms and employee engagement software help cannabis HR leaders make data-driven decisions to improve employee retention.
Marc Rodriguez, CEO of Green Leaf Business Solutions, a provider of HR and payroll technology to the cannabis industry, was quoted in Cannabis Regulator describing the various HR technology solutions he finds most valuable. “HR management systems (HRMS) and applicant tracking systems (ATS) offer modules for performance reviews, goal setting and employee feedback. Time and attendance software can help monitor work hours and productivity, while learning management systems (LMS) can track employee training and development.”
These types of systems are enabling cannabis HR leaders to monitor employee satisfaction, increase employee engagement and optimize their retention strategies with data that has already been available to more traditional industries for decades.
It’s important to note the cannabis sector is a community rather than an industry. Business leaders, employees and even consumers are tied together in the collective mission to support the legalization of cannabis and promote the healing and recreational uses of the plant. It’s this sense of community and comradery that separates the cannabis industry from traditional business sectors and motivates cannabis leaders to tailor their HR programs to the humans they oversee.
Taking a humanistic approach to HR is vital to the longevity of any business. That being said, as cannabis businesses begin to place a greater emphasis on their people, the days of labor shortages and high turnover rates will begin to fade.