Brain Drain: Cannabis’ Not So Dirty Little Secret
An exodus is underway and it has nothing to do with the bible. For a variety of reasons, numerous skilled and experienced cannabis workers have left the industry. Countless more are contemplating exits. I haven’t seen any hard data, but anyone familiar with the sector has observed this trend.
Voluntary turnover creates significant talent gaps that aren’t easy to fill. The most impacted areas appear to be sales, grow operations, finance and marketing.
A brain drain hampers growth, impairs employee engagement and magnifies business & compliance risk. It may also hinder the capital raises of small firms; management depth is a key requirement for early stage investors.
I categorize the leavers into three buckets-
1. Opportunists – these folks are in the prime of their careers. They don’t want to waste any more time in a business or industry with no clear path to sustainability.
2. Victims – Victims are mostly young or the economically vulnerable. They will leave for higher pay, job security and career development.
3. The Reluctants – these workers want to stay but are fed up with the BS. Once they find something better, they are gone.
Business challenges go well beyond the hassle of losing the odd employee:
> Vital institutional knowledge (especially around clients, accounting and operations) is not easily replaced;
> Remaining employees often lacked the expertise, management skills or mentors to quickly step into new roles;
> Exits are often symptomatic of corporate toxicity. Don’t believe me, check out Reddit or Glassdoor reviews;
> Ongoing industry travails and stigma still turn off outsiders, making backfilling a challenge.
Up to a point, using more automation or 3rd party services like sales agencies can mitigate the problem. However, the issue is more strategic. Show me a world class firm that doesn’t prioritize attracting and keeping great talent.
Some ways to alleviate the brain drain include-
1. Recognize there’s a problem
- Suspend the ‘happy talk’ for a moment. Consider the weed sector’s value proposition versus the appeal of other industries.
- Remove low hanging irritants that compromise employee engagement. For example, everyone should have proper job descriptions, total comp should be clearly understood etc.
2. Define & understand the existing gaps and flight risks
- Canvas your staff through anonymous surveys or 1:1 interviews
- Stay current with industry and role compensation levels
3. Create a strategic talent management plan.
- Foster task overlap in key roles. For example, your sales manager needs to be on the road. Product management and operations must be close.
4. Disseminate knowledge.
- Use cross functional initiatives to train up, down and across the enterprise.
#braindrain #employeeengagement #turnover #HR