MJBizMag October 2020 - 88

Diverse Workforce
Promoting a
Simply breaking out which skills are
really required for a role instead of which
would be nice to have in a candidate can
make a job listing more approachable,
she said. For instance, does a cultivation
director really need a Ph.D. to do the job,
or would that just be an added perk from
an applicant?
There are also websites and apps, such
as Textio and Gender Decoder, that
will flag gendered, racist and classist
language that can be tweaked so potential
employees are not deterred from applying.
Including an anti-discrimination
statement or equal opportunity statement
in the listing can also be encouraging,
but companies should think through and
customize the language being used rather
than just copy and paste boilerplate text,
Schumacher advised.
FIRST CONTACT
The interview is another area hiring
managers can scrutinize for internal bias
or roadblocks to diversity.
" The most important thing is just
having a script of what questions you're
going to ask and to actually stick to that
script. And make sure that everything
you're asking is legal, " Schumacher said.
" To be fair, you have to set it up so that
you're putting everyone through the
same process as much as possible. "
Hiring managers can establish a
rubric or scorecard to help evaluate
candidates based on key factors such as
their experience rather than superficial
information like where they went to
school. They can also break the interview
into stages where they ask initial and
overview questions during the first
meeting and more detailed follow-up
questions in subsequent interviews.
Companies seeking to improve
diversity might be doing themselves
a disservice by focusing on subjective
parameters such as looking for someone
who is a good culture fit or will be a part
of the existing team.
" You're asking them to blend into your
white culture, so you're going to think
that somebody who's not like you is not a
Kelly Perez, left, and
Courtney Mathis co-founded
KindColorado. Courtesy Photo
good fit. In my opinion, that would be a
good thing if they're not able to blend in,
because it's good to seek out difference, "
Schumacher said.
One way cannabis firms can guard
against bias is establishing a hiring
committee where multiple-ideally,
diverse-people make the decision rather
than one individual.
RETAINING EMPLOYEES
" It's not just about hiring folks who are
Black or brown or other people of color
just to have them in the building, " said
Ru Johnson, an MCBA board member
and executive producer at Denver-based
Roux Black Consulting.
" We're talking about amplifying the
voices of many Black and brown people
of color who have the skills to do this
work and to give them a seat at the
decision-making table, " Johnson said.
The employee experience is important
for retaining diverse candidates-and
that starts during the onboarding
process, Raja said.
" Something that makes the process
easy in the beginning is automation,
like a digital handbook that they might
be able to get before they even start, "
she said. It's helpful to create a single
repository where employees can find
information about the company and its
88 Marijuana Business Magazine | October 2020
best practices as well as training videos.
" And as silly as this sounds, having an
office buddy or being linked to someone
who can help answer questions where
you don't feel judged and who you can
lean on when you don't have the answers
can be super helpful, " Raja said.
Vertosa is flexible about allowing those
connections to happen organically or
tasking someone to be a new hire's point
person. The company also encourages
weekly or regular individual checkin
meetings between managers and
employees as well as reviews every six
months. These interactions give managers
an opportunity to check on their workers
both personally and professionally as well
as gauge opportunities for growth.
" It's my job to understand my team
and their hot spots and cold spots and
to see how to better bolster and support
them, " Raja said. " A lot of times, I
know someone's looking to take the
next leap in their career path, and (I
need to know how I can) help support
that-whether that's figuring out a way
to alleviate job responsibilities so they
can focus on bigger things, whether that
means providing additional classes or
literature to grow, whether that means
helping to find more space so that they
can generate ideas or whatever that
might be. "
MJBizMag October 2020

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