Marijuana Business Magazine - April 2018

“When you’re growing this quickly and moving this quickly, getting them onboarded so they don’t get lost in the volume is critical to the organization and to the new hire,” Mullin said. “We require our executives to meet with the new hire and help them through the onboarding process so that informa- tion comes through quicker in terms of the learning process.” Van Rixel tries to hire someone he won’t have to mold too much once that person is on board. “Someone who would fit our style, rather than forcing someone to fit our style,” he said. “That’s where you run into it not working. If the style of our company is to write a signature in cursive, I wouldn’t hire someone who prints their name.” If the person does need training, Van Rixel would trust his director of operations to handle it. For Whiteman, the first month or two of onboarding a new executive involves helping the new hire get as much exposure as possible to the company and the people that person will be working with. If that person is new to the canna- bis business, Whiteman also exposes him or her to some of the key indus- try players. Whiteman said she would take the person to industry meetings such as the Cannabis Business Alliance, the National Cannabis Industry Associa- tion or Colorado Leads, which brings together MJ business leaders, and use those settings as an opportunity for introductions. Conferences also are good for introductions. “It’s all about helping them get acclimated to what the business is all about and taking the pressure off to feel like they have to come in and immediately make all kinds of changes,” Whiteman said. “I don’t need somebody to come in and immediately start fixing things. I need them to take their time.” ◆ WHAT TOWATCH OUT FOR F or business owners or top executives hiring for a C-suite position, some major turnoffs include candidates who: • Don’t tailor resumes to the specific job they’re applying for. • Are applying for a job just to work in the cannabis industry. • Are unwilling to learn new skills or new ways to do things. “It’s a red flag to me when somebody does not speak to the indus- try or the company at all in their cover letter,” said Nancy Whiteman, co-owner of Colorado edibles maker Wana Brands. “They don’t make any connection between their previ- ous experience and what they’d be doing at this job. I like to understand why this particular job is of interest.” Whiteman said because Wana Brands is a relatively small com- pany, people who have only large- company experience are probably not the best fit. Sue Mullin, director of human resources at Illinois-based medical marijuana company PharmaCann, doesn’t want people who are apply- ing just because they think the mari- juana industry is interesting or the next big thing. “We have no shortage of people who are interested in getting into the industry,” she said. “We see that every day.” During the interview process, Mullin works to discover why a candidate is interested in the particular position, the company and the industry. Mullin will disqualify a candidate who isn’t prepared and expects the interview to be casual or unprofessional. “Oftentimes, we’ll run into a belief system that simply because we’re a cannabis company, that we have a relaxed process, that we should be easygoing about it, that it’s not a stringent screening process,“ Mullin said. For Scott Van Rixel, co-founder of Oakland, California, edibles company Bhang Chocolates, if a candidate doesn’t have an open mind, it’s probably not going to work out. “They’re going to need to learn that the cannabis industry is like a lot of other industries, but it’s also very different,” he said. “There are nuances in our industry that they might not have had experi- ences with.” – Bart Schaneman Sue Mullin is director of human resources for PharmaCann. Photo courtesy of PharmaCann 98 • Marijuana Business Magazine • April 2018