It’s no surprise that the competition in cannabis is fierce. And trying to find the best talent continues to be difficult as the industry continues to evolve. Cannabis companies that make it a priority to become an employer of choice consistently experience a reduced amount of churn and attrition of staff —specifically with enrolls that involve consistent frontline hiring. Those companies that are capable of highlighting their brand as well as becoming an employer of choice have a multitude of advantages over fellow competitors, sometimes just down the street from one another.
Becoming an employer of choice includes a multifaceted approach to examining how you operate as a business, but more importantly, how you operate as a workplace. Creating a positive company culture is one way that employees can recognize that they are valued and supported within their day-to-day activities. Offering flexible work hours providing opportunities for growth and development, fostering a collaborative and friendly workplace are all independent ways that coalesce into being an employer of choice.
In a job seekers market, it’s increasingly important to offer competitive benefits that go much further than just a competitive base compensation amount. Some valuable perks may include health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, employee discounts, and anything specific offers the incentivize retaining employees as well as attracting top talent.
It’s a fact that employees want to work for a company where they can grow and develop their skill sets, in some settings having the opportunity to learn from the best of the best within a specific field of career choice, and look forward to developing a future relationship with those they work with. Across the industry, cannabis offers an immense number of opportunities for the workforce to continue to grow and scale effectively, while maintaining the ability of developing skill sets with a given company. Providing opportunities for growth and development for employees may include trade development, career advancement, mentorship programs, leadership training —as well as responsibility cycles and rotations, so that employees have a well-rounded experience within a business and organization.
Coming out of the Covid pandemic, it’s widely seen as very important to job seekers to be able to prioritize a measurable work-life balance. With employees value work-life balance, prioritizing this in company culture and offering flexible work is key. Arrangements such as remote work or flexible hours allow employees to remain empowered to successfully balance their work-life balance, ultimately leading to a happier employee. And perceptions of having a life outside of their workplace, mitigates the risk of churn or attrition.
Recognition of employees and their contributions to their company also helps mitigate the risk of churn and nutrition, specifically within front line roles that a company is filling.
Becoming an employer of choice looks different for every single company in the cannabis industry. But one common aspect is that most cannabis companies would like to be able to put their best foot forward when it comes to attracting top talent and ensuring that their roles within the company are seen as valued. This makes a big difference within the day-to-day operations of the organization. Recognizing and rewarding employees goes a long way; celebrating milestones and achievements to show employees that they are valued and appreciated is a strategic way of optimizing an employer brand. And becoming an employer of choice can pay off dividends towards retaining each employee, eliminating the need for backfilling positions – and spending more time, money, effort and sleepless nights to be sure a company is fully staffed for scalability.
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