Empower Your Employees
Employees are the face of every cannabis retail store and brand. Employee interaction and efficiency will define the customer experience and the brand reputation you’ve worked so hard to build. As a business owner, continuous employee training and interaction is essential for business and employee satisfaction. Let’s look at some vital tips below:
- Know Your Employees
This is so basic but requires effort and planning. We often get so caught up with our daily responsibilities and it can become easy to neglect personal relationships with employees. Building personal relationships with your team is vital for you and your employees. Team members will appreciate your efforts and feel more value personally and professionally. A good employee will commonly have questions and valuable input that require attention. Establishing a personal relationship with team members enables honest communication. Employees who feel respected will feel empowered to make suggestions or raise concerns if necessary.
It’s also essential to make time and effort to learn about team members’ backgrounds, hobbies, long term goals, etc. This will build more respect and can also help you better understand personality types, strengths, weaknesses, and motivating factors. This will help in training, placement, and getting the most efficient performance from each employee.
- Professional Development
One of the main reasons that employees leave their job is the lack of professional development. If employees feel lost or unsure about their job or how to perform they will be less engaged and less excited about working hard. This can lead to high turnover which can cost the company quite a bit of money to replace employees. Richard Branson says it best; “Train your team well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” When you provide employees with the training and professional development they need to succeed, both at work and personally, they will thrive and enjoy work and that will translate into happier customers and increased sales.
Working at a dispensary can be very overwhelming and difficult as we are dealing with so many different types of customers with different needs coming into to get products that may be new to so many. Without proper training on sales/customer service and product knowledge, employees may feel overwhelmed, which can eventually hurt sales. Providing a consistent training program will provide the best possible preparation. The results will be amazing!
- Employee Involvement
Employee involvement is a key driver in getting your team engaged and bought into the company and brand. All team members should be involved in setting goals and developing the best strategies for success. Everyone likes to feel valued. Involving all employees with important decisions will remind them of their worth and importance to the business. Value also helps with accountability.
Let’s say you want to set a goal of 15% increase in avg transaction for your team, you want to discuss this goal formally. Seek input and advice on different methods and strategies. Some employees need to be reminded of their own expertise. Employees can often learn more and build stronger motivation amongst each other than from a superior. It’s also important to ask about any concerns or general suggestions. Such open dialogue will strengthen your team and give a stronger sense of individual responsibility. The sense of team unity is the best way to set goals, and it’s the most efficient way to strategize a formal game plan. This type of team unity will create a more enjoyable working environment, yield better results while holding all team members accountable.
- Offer Praise, Celebrate, and Recognize Strengths
Little things can go a long way! And this can be true with employees. Even the smallest piece of praise or recognition will remind employees of their worth. Everyone wants to feel appreciated for hard work. Taking the time to show appreciation for your employees will build self-esteem and drive motivation.
If a tight budget is preventing incentives, then even simple recognition in front of other team members can go a long way for any individual. Other effective forms of employee recognition:
-Regular verbal praise,
-Companywide emails identifying top employee performances weekly.
-Sending personal emails to recognize and thank hard work
-Pulling an employee aside and letting them know their hard work is noticed
-Small incentives like gift cards or cash bonuses will also motivate and yield higher results
Effective communication empowers the sales staff and in turn, empowers the customer. Customers who feel empowered and confident make repeat purchases and spread the word. Follow these tips to empower your team and I promise you results will follow. For more information on how MJ Hybrid Solutions can help empower your team, contact us at mj@mjhybridsolutions.com.
