If you own or operate a cannabis dispensary, you know that dispensary hiring is an ongoing challenge. High turnover rates, complex recruitment systems, and tricky compliance issues don't make it any easier.
But the good news is when there is a challenges, people have invested in finding the solution!
There is no one size fits all, and each dispensary will have a unique team structure including budtenders, managers, keyholders, compliance officers and more.
But even though who you need on your dispensary team will vary. The principals should stay the same.
You need people with the right skills. People who have the requisite knowledge and can adapt to the work culture of the dispensary—not to mention people who can foster good rapport among co-workers and contribute to the growth of the business.
But imagine what would it feel like to lay hold of tools that would make hiring for your dispensary easy and stress-free.
What does it take to make the recruitment process less tedious, save you more time and resources, and ensure you employ the right people?
We have the 6 tools to help you succeed when it comes to hiring at your dispensary.
In the rest of this article we will cover 6 tools that are making it easy for dispensary owners to recruit, onboard, interview, hire and retain great people, and where you can find them.
Hiring at a dispensary is a big of a unique animal. There are certifications (for some provinces) legal requirements (for some states) and varying age limits.
Not to mention that the moment you put out an opening for a vacancy in your dispensary, you will get a torrent of applicants even when there is just one vacancy to fill. Sifting through the myriad of entries you receive and analyzing whether or not each applicant has the necessary skillset can make the process of hiring unpleasant.
This is where applicant tracking software (ATS) comes into play. With this software, the tedious job of assembling and collation is done for you. The software works to collect the numerous online applications and stores them for the HR team or personnel who would sift through the pile.
To further decrease the time spent on the resumes, you can use an ATS that allows for automatic ranking. This means that you can input some keywords that define the relevant skills or qualifications that you require for that position. The tracking software will perform an automatic rummage through the entries and oust the ones that do not include the requirements the job needs.
For example, you can use a keyword or phrase such as two years working experience, and the software would produce only those resumes with that qualification. You can also input more than one set of keywords, such as two years of working experience + budtender to make the search even narrower.
With the software doing the bulk of the heavy sorting, you can save a lot of time, freeing you up to focus only on more important things.
Over the past few years, technology has fundamentally changed business operations, and the interviewing phase of recruitment has not been overlooked.
These systems allow for video interviews for a group of people and are integrated into the dispensary’s applicant tracking software. Interview solutions like these save you the costs of running a physical interview for a number of applicants.
They also prove investment-worthy in the way they save time and facilitate productivity through team collaboration.
KayaPush dispensary HR software offers a unique interviewing platform that helps managers keep track of their hiring process by allowing them to set up interview templates and make a record of applicants' notes through a numeric and organized system.
You can set up templated questions, and keep track of candidates answers all within the same platform, you can also set up a ranking system, building a transferrable system at your dispensary to help with hiring.
Once you’ve employed your new recruits, the next thing is to set them up for success.
A dispensary standard operating procedure (SOP) is a quick way to get new hires to settle into the new job and perform maximally. An SOP is like a checklist of tasks and execution methods that an employee can follow to get a job done.
Good operating procedures and onboarding manuals can save you time and resources. They reduce inefficiency and asymmetric productivity. Everyone knows what to do, and by following the checklist, all arrive at the expected results.
SOPs will also prevent surprise downtimes due to equipment breakdown caused by manhandling. SOPs can be integrated into other systems to boost speed and eliminate errors.
Did you know that employee retention is linked to proper onboarding? It's true, and a great way to ensure that your employees are fully up to speed, and understand what they should be doing is to leverage the tool of a great employee training manual. For more on what to include in a training manual, go here!
An employee training guide is a book created by management that helps train employees for their position using a step by step process for each task they are in charge of. Guides, or manuals, should include relevant step by step instruction for each task the position must accomplish, but can also include other relevant information like resources, company goals or culture.
In a nutshell, an employee training guide should help set your new hire up for success, and clearly share expectations and roles.
Within the cannabis space it is paramount that employees fill out proper documentation when being onboarded. But what if something is missed, and how are employees to know what documents they need to have signed and completed? Easy!
Now, software allows the option to digitize all important employee documents, and upload them to the employee onboarding system. Making employee self-onboarding like a game, and easy as pie.
Digitalization has numerous advantages when it comes to how you store documents and essential credentials. The cannabis industry is fraught with constantly changing regulations, and the last thing you want is to face avoidable legal matters. While manual storage is still viable, digitalization cuts down on paperwork and prevents a disorganized workspace.
In addition, when documents are stored digitally, they are easier to transport and can be retrieved more quickly whenever they are needed. They are also faster to access and update, and there is less risk of misplacing important files.
Storage and backup can be done using electric storage means such as external drives. Better still, you can opt for cloud storage which has become the generally embraced means of storage.
KayaPush also offers accessible storage of licenses and renewals for employees—important in this industry because, in some places, it is required that employees have up-to-date licenses to operate within the cannabis space.
Effective communication in the dispensary is essential for better collaboration, effectiveness, job satisfaction, and transparency. Sadly, more than 70% of employees feel left out of the internal operations of the business. Studies also show that employees’ trust in their employers is also accelerated through effective communication.
Effective communication prevents confusion, promotes employees’ optimal performance, and builds a positive company culture of accountability. New employees need to keep in touch with managers and other superiors to avoid making mistakes.
The answer to the stress of traveling across offices to relay messages or make inquiries is a trustworthy and methodical messaging center.
Within the KayaPush platform, there is a messaging center that employers can use to stay in touch with their employees. It can be used if employees want to swap shifts or if they have a concern. The platform is especially helpful for new hires—if they have any questions, they have a direct line of communication with managers.
Finding and keeping good hires can be a challenge in the cannabis space. Aside from the typical difficulties that companies in other industries face, the cannabis industry has to take extra precautions and keep within regulations before hiring workers.
The unique requirements new employees need to have—the specialist knowledge base and skillset—make hiring for dispensaries a challenge, that’s for sure. But, as we’ve shown, there are ways of meeting that challenge, and software solutions go a long way towards resolving recruiting issues.
When you invest in smart technology to help you in hiring for your dispensary, you gain more time to manage your people and make them feel valued partners in your business.
“KayaPush has it all in one platform where you can kind of build what you need. Especially as a start-up, that’s important to us to be cost-friendly. You have the best price for what you’re offering. ”
-Marry Ann from Riverside Wellness-