As we know, exact rules and regulations vary from state to state. These laws are also subject to change over time, and this makes staying compliant within the marijuana business, particularly challenging. 

With CNBC reports estimating that 1 in 4 workers quit their jobs in 2021, it is clear that employee retention is an issue in the United States. And given the difficulties in remaining consistently compliant when working within the marijuana industry, employee training and retention become even more important. 

Additionally, with cannabis regulatory solutions being constantly altered and varying greatly between states, there is a fierce need not just to train cannabis employees, but to train them to an increasingly high standard.

There is little room for error when you consider that mistakes could cost a marijuana business its license. 

How to train cannabis employees (No Matter the Category)

SOPs are particularly useful for training new employees and refreshing existing workers on how certain tasks should be approached and completed. 

But SOPs aren’t the whole picture. It is also crucial that employers test the effectiveness of their training. Resources such as quizzes can help to give a clear and unbiased report of how different training approaches have worked or have not.

The exact details of your cannabis employee training plan will depend on your state regulations. But there are some basic criteria that all US cannabis firms should address in their training programs.

• Onboarding
  • Help new employees understand what is expected from them. It is useful to have learning documents like SOPs in centralized and easily accessible locations.

• Ongoing Learning
  • Training doesn’t ever end, especially when regulations change over time and between states so frequently. It is also essential that workers have the chance to refresh their understanding over time.

• Standardized Training
  • Training between different employees and even different locations should be as standardized as possible since compliance is such a major part of the cannabis industry. SOPs can assist with this process.

• Up-to-date Knowledge
  • With shifting regulations, cannabis businesses need to stay on top of all the latest news and trends. The software can help to put this information into one easy-to-find location.

Check your SOPs and other company information regularly and update as necessary, archiving or deleting SOPs that are no longer compliant.

• Assigned Responsibilities
  • Staff members need to know who is training and which employees will be assigned which duties. Clarity helps prevent confusion and errors.

• Document, document, document
  • You should always be able to show which employees are trained and up-to-date on various procedures. This could save you from tons of stress during audits.

• Test
  • There’s no way to know whether training has been effective unless you check.

Read More -

• Are you thinking about how to get a cannabis license?
• Setting up a System to Manage Your Dispensary
• SOPs to Implement in Your Dispensary

Why Training Matters

Dispensaries are the last point before cannabis products reach consumers. This means that there is a lot of pressure on retail establishments to guarantee regulations are met, both to keep customers safe and to keep their businesses running legally. 

The total sales of recreational Cannabis Regulatory Software in the US increased by over 50% in one year from 2019 to 2020. And California alone, the single largest market in the US, gained more than 50 billion dollars in tax revenue in 2020.

With impressive figures like these, it is hardly shocking that more and more people are looking to access the cannabis business industry. 

Yet, a company\'s growth will always be stunted if they cannot learn how to train the cannabis employees they have. Excellent training is a must in the heavily regulated world of medical and recreational-use marijuana.

If you are interested in streamlining and enhancing the effectiveness of the training you provide your employees, why not try ProCanna? 

You can even check out a free demo of our training software and resources to see how they would fit into your company culture and needs.