1.) Empower your dispensary employee with the right tools to make decisions within the jobs.

When you’re asked to perform a task, would you rather do it in your own way, or the way someone else tells you to do it? Most people want to create their own way of doing things. Dispensary employee empowerment allows staff members to do a job their way. A manager who wishes to empower dispensary agents could say things like, “How would you handle this?” “Let’s try it.” This changes the manager’s role from the feared superior role to the one who facilitates progress throughout the workplace.

2.) Provide helpful feedback during coaching and budtender training sessions.

The more a new employee is up to speed and knowledgeable, the more stable your dispensary becomes. You can help your dispensary employee retain information better by training with practical job scenarios in ways that tell stories and catch learners’ interest. This is how an employee who has taken a budtending class could be at more of advantage of getting hired than someone who has not been exposed to those practical customer scenarios.

3.) Recognize dispensary employees for their achievements and progress.

Appreciation is a basic human need. Employees respond to recognition because it confirms their contributions matter. People who feel appreciated are more likely to show up for work and perform duties with a good attitude. Create goals and plans for employees. You want to recognize the behaviors, approaches, and successes that you want to reinforce in your dispensary. Be sure to establish plenty of recognition opportunities that emphasize and reinforce these qualities and behaviors in dispensary agents.

4.) Provide a supportive management team made up of strong leaders.

Dispensaries should be building individual leaders trained in sustainable workplace practices and put the business at an advantage. When you’re hiring for potential over experience, you can coach anyone into becoming a quality dispensary employee. It’s not about who is smarter, who has more experience– it’s about finding moldable individuals to grow with your dispensary’s changes needs.

5.) Try to avoid wasting everyone’s time with endless meetings.

Meetings are best suited for topics where you want to have back-and-forth discussion with the staff. If your purpose is just to share information with the staff — it’s far more efficient to do that through an email or newsletter.

People want to do a good job. They want to work for a winning organization, where they know they can make a difference, have influence over their future, and feel valued for their efforts.

6.) Treat the employee as the dispensary’s most vital resource.

Employees of the dispensary will thrive on knowing what they do contributes to the success of the business. Dispensaries are striving to compete and thrive in a highly competitive, local economy. They need to have each dispensary employee feeling valued and going in the same direction. Remember, generally people want to do a good job. They want to work for a winning organization, where they know they can make a difference, have influence over their future, and feel valued for their efforts.

7.) Attract and retain employees by offering above average compensation.

Finding quality employees is as top priority for many dispensaries. A competitive wage is one of the key factors a potential dispensary employee considers. This does not mean the salary needs to be the highest offered in the cannabis industry. There are many other factors, such as geographical location, which should be considered. Employers should evaluate if they are at the right level to keep hold of existing employees. With the dispensary market expanding, diversely skilled people may find themselves in great demand. Losing a good dispensary employee can have a big impact on the company. It hurts morale and productivity and also costs money to find a replacement. Dispensary employers may even find themselves having to increase the salary offered to be able to attract someone fast enough.

8.) Offer samples for each qualified dispensary employee.*

Dispensaries, –and other cannabis-related companies– should provide samples to employees to keep them engaged. Get your employees involved in user testing, and offer plenty of incentives to spark participation, and you’ll have a healthier, stronger staff.

In a two year survey, 90% of Herbal Risings learners believe they would sell and communicate better if they have the opportunity to sample the company’s products.

It helps if your entire organization adopts this “testing mindset” as a whole. Quality should be everyone’s responsibility – from growers to budtenders, managers, marketers, and trimmers … everyone should be willing to make their voices heard if something isn’t right.

8.) Provide your dispensary employee team the opportunity to develop their professional skills and their careers.

Many dispensaries provide their employees with compensation or actual developmental classes and training to bring more value to the company. A study by EvoLLution found that 96 percent of employers agreed continuing education improves employees’ job performance. For a dispensary employee, this could help strengthen the knowledge and skills. And for the dispensary, this could help you retain top talent, rather than waste thousands of dollars in applicant searches.

staff mmj
Staff MMJ attended Pride Day and brought along a dozen team members. The staff interacted with the community and the event seemed to boost staff morale, too.

9.) Provide dispensary employee perks and company activities.

Companies which can show a commitment to their local communities are particularly attractive to people seeking employment, as they are looking to work for active companies with inclusive values for the community.

10.) Manage the dispensary employee within a positive clear framework of goals.

Every dispensary team is made up of a group of individuals working to do their best. It’s one of the great things about the cannabis industry. We each have a cannabis journey, and we are all bonded by this tapestry of oppression. A quality dispensary employee will want your support in their goals. Help them achieve specific, measurable and attainable deadlines. Speaking of deadlines make sure to set them as goals rather than making demands. When a time frame is established, people tend to feel motivated.