In today’s hyper-competitive cannabis industry, every employee you hire can literally make or break your business. Each time a recent hire resigns or is terminated, your loss of time, energy, resources and capital are compounded exponentially. In order to avoid them and hire right the first time, you need to be strategic, proactive and patient.

The revolving door between the first and last days on the job can set you back thousands for hourly employees and exponentially more for leadership positions. In addition to expending extra time and resources to rectify a bad hire, there are significant residual costs, including loss of productivity, reduction in employee morale not to mention the impact it may have on your clients.

Making the wrong hire can even cost you your cannabis license. For example, many businesses make the mistake of hiring based on charisma over qualifications. Though personality does play an important role in your workplace culture, if you hire a candidate who doesn’t possess at least 90% of the expertise, experience and skills required, you’re not only setting up the hire up to fail, a costly misstep can jeopardize your licensing.

Conversely, if you hire a candidate that “checks all of the boxes” in terms of skill set and experience, but is not the personality fit for the industry or your team’s unique culture, the results can be equally devastating.

Know the Early Warning Signs

A “bad hire” becomes apparent quickly, but knowing the following early warning signs of a bad hire during the interview process – will help you save the time, money and productivity you simply cannot afford to lose:

  • Not asking questions
  • Exhibiting an inflexible attitude
  • Unwilling to admit to flaws/shortcomings
  • Being unprepared
  • Portraying that they ”know it all” (Know the different between “cocky” and “confident)

Furthermore, if you hire a candidate that had triggered some red flags during the process but was hired anyway, you might find yourself monitoring the employee more closely than you would with others – which will also cost you time and money.

How to Get It Right – From The Start

Your success depends on finding the perfect fit, and so does the candidate you hire. So how can you ensure you hire the right skill, experience, culture and personality match?

  • Take your time. Avoid the temptation to hire too quickly.
  • Manage clear expectations. Create detailed, realistic roles and responsibilities, so there are no surprises.
  • Use a questionnaire. Assess cognitive skills, personality, behavioral traits and level of motivation.
  • Check references. Call former supervisors and perform background checks.
  • Make a competitive offer. When you are sure you found “the one,” act decisively and with strength.
  • Work with a recruiter. The fee you pay pales in comparison to the cost of a wrong hire and your time. Leverage a recruiter’s network, experience and manpower to scour to talent market to find the exact person you need, even if they aren’t actively looking for a new role.

Working with a professional recruiter who understands the challenges of hiring for the cannabis industry can be one of the best strategies to reduce the costs and risks associated with making bad hires. Not only do recruiters take a majority of the recruitment/hiring burden off your hands, but they can also hand deliver active and passive candidates you simply would not otherwise be able to access. This exponentially increases the likelihood of locating, attracting and making the right hire for your position.

How Can We Help You?

Since 2016, KDSgreen Strategic Cannabis Recruitment has played an integral role in building modern cannabis’ leading organizations. International MSO’s to single-license cultivators depend on us to understand their unique culture and needs – to deliver the critical talent that fits for the long term.

If you haven’t found the absolute perfect fit for your mission-critical roles, or simply don’t have the bandwidth to do so, contact us here.