2020 Northeast Cannabis Business Conference

Overcoming Industry People Challenges: How To Hire and Retain Best-In-Class Talent (Room 207)

20 Feb 20
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

Tracks: Regulations and Business Services, Retail, Delivery, & Distribution

Speaker(s): Lisa Manning, Certified EOS Implementer, Lisa Manning EOS ; Bryan Olson, Chief Human Capital Officer, Columbia Care

Moderator(s): Bryan Passman, Founder, Hunter + Esquire;

Cannabis companies know that growing a business in this industry is unlike any other. We are pioneers of a new domain. While that comes with a unique sense of excitement and pride, it also comes with its own unique challenges – especially when the industry is rapidly evolving from a camp of adventurous trailblazers to professionalized services. The same fast-paced evolution can be seen in the industry’s professionalization of executive recruitment and managing human capital. The biggest hiring challenges are often linked to the rapid pace of the industry’s evolution. Many times, newly-created roles have little (if any) previous employee reference points to determine success. This spurs other challenges, such as choosing an acceptable compensation package, or designing the “right” candidate experience needed to attract best-in-class talent from more established industries. Evaluating for culture fit is also incredibly challenging since most cannabis companies are still in “startup” mode, and many company cultures are still being defined.