Cannabis’ dirty little secret: title inflation

“Self-delusion is rarely a good strategy for effective management” Eva Moskowitz, Politician & Educator

When it comes to understanding bad cannabis management, many will point their finger at symptoms but will miss or ignore the root causes. 

Corporate dysfunction and mismanagement can be partially explained by title inflation (TI).  TI is the mismatch between an employee’s title & responsibilities and their actual credentials & power  These incongruities are found in every cannabis firm.

You may be thinking, what’s the big deal? After all, title generosity can help attract and keep talent in a controversial industry (plus many feel entitled to fancy titles). Offering generous titles may motivate junior employees.  Finally, granting senior titles is a simple, low cost way to compensate people in cash-starved environments. 

TI occurs right across the cannabis enterprise.  I see it most often in functional areas that do not require advanced professional designations like sales & marketing, HR and operations.

Mismatches are problematic because they…

1) Lead to confusion, disengagement, and less accountability.  Think of a doubles tennis match when a ball is intentionally hit between the 2 players.  Problems also occur when the title is not accompanied by decision making rights and resources.  Finally, being responsible but not accountable for tasks is a recipe for employee disengagement and poor decision making.

2) Foster turf wars.  When organization’s lack clarity and transparency the staff becomes confused around who own’s what and what is their ‘true’ job.  TI triggers busy work (i.e. unproductive activity), resource battles and politicking. 

3) Place unrealistic expectations on staff.  Heard in many boardrooms: “What do you mean you can’t find capital.  You are the CFO!”.  TI inevitably leads to higher levels of employee angst and turnover.

Moreover, TI has significant strategic ramifications, including:  poor project execution, challenges with organization scale ups, and difficulties attracting senior talent.

How do you deal with this issue? 

With difficulty.  It is hard to reverse previous commitments and you are dealing with people’s careers, egos and moving business parts.  I suggest:

1) Clarify roles and reporting, on paper and publicly;

2) Ensure new hires are properly ‘vetted and fitted’ to their roles;

3) Carefully deliberate over internal promotions i.e. don’t put a novice driver in a Ferrari;

4) Bridge large mismatches through extra training and mentoring;
 
5) Affirm role expectations up front.  Some workers will prefer a more modest title to avoid job pressure or because they realistically understand their skill level.

#rolesandresponsibilities #management #organizationaldesign #employeeengagement #reporting #titleinflation #culture