Do a quick search for cannabis industry jobs in your area. You’ll see no shortage. You’ll also notice hundreds of resume submissions to these positions. Since 2019, the legal cannabis industry has created about 200K jobs in the United States and Canada. Indeed reports indicate around 500% growth in job postings since 2017.
The desire to work in the cannabis industry is high, but the turnover in low-level positions is higher. Why? Poor management.
Management horror stories are too common in cannabis. They plague both sides of the industry; production and retail. I’ve personally witnessed and fallen victim to management mistakes while working in the cannabis industry. I’ve certainly executed some myself as well.
As profits grow within the industry, so too must the level of professionalism. Poor management puts your company at risk of litigation. Like any young industry, there are growing pains, but more efforts need to address the high job turnover in the cannabis industry.
Not Everyone Is Management Material
The reality is that not everyone is management material. All of the top reasons for job turnover in any industry involve issues with managers. Even high-performing employees will leave a company when they meet frustration with their direct supervisor.
Due to the nature of the cannabis industry, manager positions are often filled through the promotion of existing employees. Manager promotions are a common incentive for hard-working employees. Yes, promotion to management can be a natural career progression, but it shouldn’t be a given.
A high profile incident involving poor management in the cannabis industry is a prime example of internal promotion gone wrong. Mss Oregon: Philanthropist, public speaker, founder of Diversify Portland, was terminated by a reactive manager.
As the story goes, when a new manager started making decisions at their popular dispensary, Mss Oregon’s sales responsibilities were pushed to back-of-house joint rolling. Mss Oregon made comment about the cultural differences surrounding sticking up for oneself in the workplace, citing the stigmas surrounding people of color especially, and was overheard by this manager. Reacting to the incident, the manager fired Mss Oregon.
Clearly, promoting people without management experience, utilizing a sink-or-swim mentality, is a detriment to the people put in those positions. What many fail to notice, is the detriment imposed on the success of your company.
Why High Job Turnover Is Bad For A Company
Due to the highly regulated nature of the cannabis industry, training staff is extremely expensive. While utilizing a Cannabis Recruiting Firm or Talent Advisor saves businesses time and money, most employers still conduct interviewing and training on their own. Most managers devote days to the interview process alone. Training often takes over a week, meaning many hours spent diverted from the necessary business day-to-day work.
A high turnover means a high risk of theft. Employees who have not yet bought-in to company culture are unlikely to feel remorse for steeling. They also reduce the efficiency of your established team by requiring additional supervision. Reactive managers also leave a company open to lawsuits as a result of poor management.
Ways To Decrease Turnover
The top advice for decreasing workplace turnover? Hire right. If your company needs a manager, hire a manager. From there, train your managers to make the workplace a positive experience for employees. Train them in constructive, constant feedback. Train them in conflict resolution. Training seems to be the best strategy for decreasing turnover in all companies.
If you’re a manager looking for resources to help you be a better leader, these books have helped me immensely over the years.
- Fierce Leadership – Susan Scott
- How To Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
- The Power of A Positive Team – Jon Gordon
