Original article can be found in Greenway Magazine here.

It’s no secret that cannabis in Missouri is on fire. While the rapid growth and competition continue to create more and more opportunities to scale your business, it’s absolutely essential to hire the right people to make sure you stay ahead of the curve. Some companies have their hiring protocols locked down, but for those of you who could use a little tune-up to ensure you’re getting enough of (the right) people on your team, we have some helpful resources.

Some major considerations that play a big role:

• Properly marketing and communicating your job positions and expectations for each role.
• Using automation to effectively distinguish between qualified and unqualified candidates.
• Efficient hiring processes that decrease time spent in hiring while assisting you in making hiring decisions that positively affect your business.
• Proper onboarding to get new hires trained and into your system quickly 

Properly marketing and communicating your job positions and expectations for each role

It goes without saying… It’s important to make sure you’re getting the right people for the right roles at the right time.

Being sure to clearly define what the perfect hire looks like in your operations will drastically improve the quality of your candidates, but without marketing the content effectively, you won’t get the eyes on the jobs to make the hires you need.  Leveraging hiring tools that allow you to customize your job descriptions and company culture while pushing your jobs to as many outlets as possible is the best way to accomplish this goal.  A single job database that helps you market and attract talent through multiple channels, including everywhere your brand lives, will keep your information consistent and get the maximum return on your time and money. 

Effectively distinguishing between qualified and unqualified candidates

• Create standards and expectations for each position ahead of time to automatically qualify candidates who are a good fit for your company culture.
• Use a system that can automatically sort candidates who are a good fit for the job into a qualified talent pool. 
• Filter down between candidates who are a good fit for a specific role by spending a little extra time evaluating the relevant skills and experience they’ll need to have in order to excel in this role.
• Last, but not least, look for candidates who are a good fit within your team and culture–and remember: there’s no such thing as “the perfect employee.” Every person has flaws and strengths; it’s up to you as an employer or manager to help mold them into someone great at their job!

Efficient hiring processes that decrease time spent in hiring while assisting you in making hiring decisions that positively affect your business

• Use automated posts on job boards. Job boards are a great way to add additional candidates quickly and easily to your hiring pipeline. 
• Use an applicant tracking system that allows you to track your applicants throughout the hiring process, allowing you to make informed decisions about who’s right for the job, without having to go back through old resumes and interviews again (which can be time-consuming).
• Use referral programs as part of your recruitment strategy–they’re proven effective at increasing diversity, and will usually help you hire candidates that already fit into your current culture. 

Proper onboarding to get new hires trained and into your system quickly

It’s important to get new hires trained and into your system quickly. When hiring, you obviously want to make sure that the person is a good fit for the position you are trying to fill, but you also want to make sure that they are properly integrated into your company culture and systems.  

Having a smooth and easy-to-complete onboarding and outlined training protocol will be a major asset when it comes to getting that great new hire into their role smoothly.  Make sure to utilize tools that allow you to digitally send all new hire documentation, training manuals, and anything else they’ll need in their first weeks in their role.  This will establish full transparency and accountability for the onboarding process, and get your new hire ramped up to be as effective in their role as quickly as possible. 

To sum it up, if you’re looking to hire for success in Missouri cannabis, it’s critical that you know what you’re doing, and use tools to help you along the way. The industry is growing fast and there are plenty of opportunities out there for those who know how to navigate the hiring process properly. The first step is always knowing what kind of person fits into your culture.  Next comes knowing how best to market job positions so candidates feel compelled enough by what they see online or hear from friends who work there already; this way they’ll apply even before being contacted directly (as long as they meet all qualifications).

Lastly: keep things efficient by using proper onboarding processes that get new hires trained quickly while also helping HR make better hiring decisions overall.