Are you like most cannabis dispensary owners and managers and think training your budtenders is a waste of time and money because you know they’ll soon quit and take your training with them?
Think again. You could be missing out on 20% more sales per day, week, and month if you aren’t investing in a QUALITY training program.
This article will give you statistics, reasons, and ideas for contracting or developing a world-class training program for your dispensary staff, and we’ll give you a free training template and strategies for creating your own plan.
The Why: How Will it Benefit You?
If you own or operate any business, the bottom line is likely the driving force behind most of your decisions. Because cannabis businesses can be costlier than most other businesses, it is even more likely managers will focus on strategies and problems that immediately influence the bottom line. Makes sense.
Until it doesn’t.
If you are faced with action and solution choices that require investments and won’t show immediate results, it is easy for you to dismiss them as too risky or expensive in favor of quick, easy, and cheap alternatives that may only be temporary or will backfire in the long run.
Developing and implementing a comprehensive, quality training program is a commitment, but one that will pay off handsomely if you are dedicated and persistent. Let’s look at some of the reasons you should start building your budtender and staff training program today!
Trained Employees Work Smarter, Make Fewer Mistakes, and Generate Higher Profit
Think about it. If you have 2 employees, one (Jenny Kush) fully trained in policies, procedures, product knowledge, and expectations, and the other (Dave Haze) who only shadowed another hourly employee for a couple of shifts, would you expect the same results from both?
Obviously not. But too often, this is what happens. Someone like Dave Haze is instructed to follow another employee because they are a “top seller.” This “top seller” is usually also not adequately trained. Just because someone can sell doesn’t mean they are giving good customer service or are following procedure.
In this scenario, Dave Haze picks up bad habits and learns how to get by. While we all learn from mistakes, unnecessary mistakes, especially those that go uncorrected, can be costly by hurting your customers’ perspectives and trust, requiring more manager intervention, longer customer wait times, and other consequences that result in waste, lost sales, or reputational damage.
Jenny Kush, on the other hand, gets your comprehensive training program and is able to work independently sooner and has more confidence. The confidence translates into more efficient work, greater trust from your customers, and ultimately contributes to a positive reputation for the store.
Trained Employees Have Higher Morale
There is an actual correlation between happy employees and a successful business. One thing that will kill morale quickly is putting an employee in a situation where they feel like they don’t know what they are doing or what they are supposed to do.
Poorly trained employees put a strain on their relationships with coworkers. Having to stop and help new employees with problems that could easily be avoided with good training will cause the seasoned employee to build resentment. Most people want to help newcomers, but when they feel they are working harder because of the manager’s or the owner’s neglect, it can become a source of frustration.
Employees with higher morale tend to be more loyal to the business. They are more likely to have a positive attitude during customer interactions, will work harder to avoid waste, are less likely to steal or waste “on the clock” time, and are more willing to go the extra mile.
Think about a job or manager you weren’t thrilled about. Did you do your best job in that situation? Or were you like most people and do just enough to get by, or worse underperform?
Greater Employee Self-Confidence
Employee self-confidence is huge in many respects and for many reasons! A confident salesperson or customer service representative reflects positively on the caliber of business. A confident person is more efficient and deliberates less, saving time.
Confident employees who feel supported by their management team communicate better and are more likely to be self-directed.
Less Turnover
As you probably know, employee turnover can be very costly for businesses due to direct and indirect expenses. It can cost anywhere from $1500 for hourly employees to 200X the annual salary for executive positions.
Additionally, when a company develops a reputation for high turnover, it is very hard to reverse that perspective.
Greater Loyalty
As mentioned earlier, well-trained employees are generally happier and therefore tend to be more loyal. Not only do they make fewer mistakes, but they miss work less often (reducing disruption), they tend to be more engaged, and they look out for the interests of the company more.
Think about who you would prefer to safeguard all your valuable inventory, customer relationships, and/or intellectual property, a well-trained, happy employee like Jenny Kush, or Dave Haze who is just getting by and probably a little frustrated. No Contest!
Better Company Culture
Perhaps this is the chicken or the egg paradox, but a company with well-trained employees is more likely to have a positive company culture than a company that is less purposeful with its training.
A well-trained staff will communicate better, have improved teamwork, and have less negativity. When employees know they can count on their teammates, they focus less on preventing others’ screwups or backstabbing and more on being productive.
Better Public Image
Any company that develops a reputation for having poorly trained, unhappy employees risks disappointing customers, not just potential new employees. Millennials, who will be the drivers of the new economy, are reported to be less tolerant of corporate greed and questionable social practices.
While some people just want a cheap price, many consumers want quality and vote with their dollars, avoiding businesses that don’t align with their values.
Then there is the issue of attracting quality employees. Think of all the job postings you’ve seen where the company has 1 or 2-star ratings out of 5. Would you be more likely to apply for a position with this company or one that has a 4 or 5-star rating?
If all you can attract are poor-quality candidates, you start a vicious cycle of hiring weak employees who need more training than quality candidates, but wait, you don’t really care about training, so these weak candidates will be twice as hard to work with.
Statistics of the Impact of Quality Training Programs
- According to HR Magazine companies that invest $1,500 on training per employee can see an average of 24% more profit than companies who invest less.
- 57% of those [HR Managers] surveyed stated that lack of manager bandwidth was a barrier to proper onboarding.
- “Lower employee morale, lower levels of employee engagement, lower confidence among employees, a lack of trust within the organization and missed revenue targets are among the other negative impacts of not having a thorough onboarding program” (payrollpartners.net).
- From an employee perspective, 69% of employees who have a positive onboarding experience are more likely to remain with the employer for three years. Companies that focus on onboarding retain 50% more new employees than companies that don’t. Standardized onboarding also results in a 50% increase in productivity (payrollpartners.net).
- 8 months are needed for an employee to reach their maximum productivity. One-third of new employees begin searching for a new job before they have been with the employer for six months, and 25% leave before they have been there a year. This gives them little to no time at peak productivity.
- Often, the focus during the onboarding process is on orientation and acquainting the new hire with the company’s culture. Sixty percent view integrating the employee into the company culture as the main focus of onboarding, but it only makes up 30% of successful onboarding.
Consequences of Having a Poor or No Training Program
While a training program requires more time and resources up front, in the long run, it will make your life as a manager easier as you will have fewer fires to put out.
Poor Morale and a Frustrated Team
- New hires may feel like they have made mistakes that could have been avoided with a structured training program.
- Poor programs can cause tension between new hires and those responsible for training them. Existing employees may feel as if their performance or production is questioned due to mistakes or longer production times and lower output due to new employees’ mistakes and slower working speed.
- If the trainer employee doesn’t cover something in training and the new employee makes a mistake, the trainer might feel as if it will reflect poorly on them
- Poor Response to Constructive Criticism- A structured training program provides feedback that is beneficial to the company and the employee (people can take redirection/constructive criticism better in a training period than when they are established and on their own)
- Employees’ Lack of Being Able to Judge their Performance- With little or no planned feedback, new employees may get frustrated with not knowing if they are doing a good job or not
- Without dedicated time for training that doesn’t involve sales or productivity, managers, trainers, employees, and new hires might feel pressured to rush through tasks or training with both suffering.
- A new employee that has inadequate training can disrupt the rhythm of a well-functioning team bringing down the productivity of the entire staff. Bad vibes man!
What Makes a Comprehensive, Quality Training Program?
Below are some key factors to consider when you design, develop, and implement a quality training program.
- Department Manager should plan quotas and productivity to allow for reduction due to training, so none of the personnel feel pressure to rush through tasks or training
- Train the trainers- certain people should be trained as trainers and assured they will not be held responsible for new-hire mistakes/reduced productivity
- Asking someone to be a trainer will boost their confidence. It can be a step in the promotion process.
- Being mentally prepared to train a new person makes for a better training experience than saying “hey, you are going to train Joe today/this week.
- Not everyone wants to be a trainer
- Not everyone knows how to teach/train people (there is much more to training than knowing the steps of a procedure/Learning sciences)
- Teaching someone something reinforces the trainer’s knowledge and skills and takes them to a higher level
- Trainers should not be considered executing members of job function or tasks during direct observation phases for the new hire
- Implement checklists for what should be accomplished at specific milestones as well as to be sure nothing critical is missed (establishing goals)
- New hires are not allowed to perform certain functions until they have been assessed and approved (reduces mistakes and frustrations that cause unnecessary expenses and loss of productivity)
- Tasks should be broken down into components for a checklist to assess completion of training steps/phases
- Implement assessments (quizzes, verbal walkthroughs, monitored task performances, etc.) at specific milestones to ensure understanding, knowledge, and skills are being mastered
- Create images of set-ups for each task (equipment, tools, and materials needed so new hires can be given direction to do tasks that involve low risk to success so they feel productive and can save some time lost due to training)
- Create a list of what can go wrong and how to avoid and/or fix for each major task
- Provide detailed feedback- positive and constructive criticism with goals
- Ask for feedback from the new employee- fresh eyes and world experience can see things we don’t notice in our day-to-day routines
- New hire should be required to create a list of questions they have or items they are unsure of towards the end of each milestone
- Provide ongoing training-
- New procedures should have new training
- Requirements for in-house promotions/advancements
- Cross-training for covering vacations/sick days
9. Keep track of each employee’s training accomplishments and update them on their progress
Hypothetical Template and Timeline for a Quality Training Program
The template below will give you a framework to modify to fit your needs and circumstances. This can be adapted for most roles in the cannabis industry.
Week 1
- Orientation to building, department, workspace, equipment, supplies, and materials
- Orientation to policies and procedures (what should and should not be done)
Including non-technical tasks (cleaning, dishes, storage, deliveries, etc.)
- Shadow and observe each major department task employee will be responsible for executing
- Feedback and assessment of Week 1 experience
- New hire questions list created, reviewed by trainer/supervisor, and answered by trainer/supervisor
Week 2
- Continue shadowing and observing major department tasks employee will be responsible for executing
- Begin hands-on assisting with tasks that have been previously observed from start to finish
- Policy and Procedure assessment given and assessed
- Introduce documentation policies and procedures specific to job tasks
- Feedback and assessment of Week 2 experience
- New hire questions list created, reviewed by trainer/supervisor, and answered by trainer/supervisor
- Assessment with new hire and trainer/supervisor of which steps within a task that can be self-directed by new hire while being observed by the trainer
Week 3
- Continue shadowing and observing major tasks
- Continue hands-on assisting with major tasks that have been previously observed from start to finish
- Begin self-directed steps for tasks that have been approved by trainer/supervisor
- Begin self-directed documentation entries
- New hire questions list created, reviewed by trainer/supervisor, and answered by trainer/supervisor
Assessment with new hire and trainer/supervisor of which steps and documentation within a major task that can be self-directed by new hire while being observed by the trainer
Week 4
- Continue shadowing and observing major tasks
- Continue hands-on assisting with major tasks that have been previously observed from start to finish
- Begin self-directed steps for tasks that have been approved by trainer/supervisor
- New hire questions list created, reviewed by trainer/supervisor, and answered by trainer/supervisor
- Assessment with new hire and trainer/supervisor of which steps and documentation within a major task that can be self-directed by new hire while being observed by trainer
- Assessment with new hire and trainer/supervisor of which steps, tasks, and documentation the new hire can be allowed to perform without direct trainer observation (if any)
Month 2
- Trainer/supervisor and new hire to itemize which major tasks have not been observed, assisted, performed with direct trainer observation, and performed without direct trainer observation
- Trainer/supervisor and new hire create plan for when major tasks that have not been observed, assisted, performed with direct trainer observation, and performed without direct trainer observation can and should be accomplished
- New hire continues to follow the steps of Month 1 until each major task has been completed in training mode and can feel confident to execute without direct trainer observation
Training Steps for Each Major Task:
- Verbal explanation of task steps, from start to finish, by trainer
- Observation of trained employees executing task steps from start to finish
- New hire assists in task steps with direct observation of trainer
- New hire assists in task steps without direct observation of trainer
- New hire approved to execute all steps of tasks out of training mode- considered a trained employee on the specific formulation
Ongoing Training
- Product or Task Revisions and Additions
Potential Areas for Specific Training
Your company or location will likely have circumstances that call for differences in areas that need specific training, but the following list will give you an idea of how overwhelming it might be for a new hire to feel they fully understand the rules and expectations of their role.
- Compliance
- Inventory Management
- Sanitation/Cleaning
- Safety
- Quality
- Efficiency/Loss Prevention/Product Inventories (Pars)
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Category & Product Knowledge
- Sales Strategies
- Customer Satisfaction/Complaint Management
- Cash Management
- Plant Knowledge
- Popular Culture Knowledge
- State & Federal Laws
- Accessories Knowledge
- Cannabis History
- New Technology & Business Trends
Final Thoughts
Designing, developing, and implementing a quality training program will greatly improve your ability to increase sales and profit, keep a positive work culture, reduce turnover, and enhance the reputation of your business.
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