Thing 2: Knowledgeable staff is hard to find
IIn the previous blog, we discussed how it can be a solid year of work before opening your lab. At this point, you have either completed that work or are in the process and you need knowledgeable staff; this may prove more difficult than “Thing 1” in most cases. Some labs have a set hiring strategy when it comes to their leadership team while others employ a staffing agency to find the “best” staff.
Staffing agencies are a great resource, but remember, just like cannabis consulting firms, staffing agencies are popping up daily, so therefore you have to do your homework on whom to trust when seeking out a credible agency that can refer proficient staff. Remember, all most will do is refer staff that they believe is appropriate, but you still have to vet the staff personally in terms of their skill sets.
I have been in a position to hire or help hire numerous staff for multiple labs from executives to sampling technicians and therefore know the particular skillsets required for the numerous positions in the lab. There are criteria to vet your candidate and most lab owners will miss those and find out the hard way months later. For instance, your prospective staff can “lead”, but can he listen? As Bernard Baruch said, "Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking." I have known way too many people who are eloquent at speaking and convincing folks of their worth but fail to understand a thing because they do not listen. You might say, I need a leader and he does not have to be a great listener, but again, I refer you to the quote above; if they do not listen, they will most likely be unsuccessful, and your lab leaders’ success directly translates to your lab’s success! Take a moment to digest that.
What is your hiring strategy? I know of a couple labs who advertised their staffing strategy as simply, “We only hire Ph.D.” This certainly IS a strategy, albeit a curious one. Some folks are so reliant on titles that they fail to see the bigger picture. A doctorate degree does not denote that one can actually lead or is even capable of managing, let alone, understanding the various complexities of a cannabis analytical laboratory. Does your Ph.D. have a degree in analytical chemistry or even microbiology? Remember that doctoral degrees are often highly specialized. The aforementioned labs with the doctoral strategy focused on hiring mostly new graduates with doctoral degrees in physics, mathematics, etc, and failed to realize the unrelated nature of these degrees to what is actually required in the cannabis analytical lab. The end result: a poorly functioning lab with lackluster methodologies, inconsistent results, inefficient processes, and poor leadership.
The moral of the story? Do not depend on a single strategy when selecting staff. Carefully select your laboratory leadership and supporting staff using common sense and a bit of homework. I can tell you that there are very, very few lab directors who can confidently handle the entire cannabis analytical lab. Most self-proclaimed lab directors may be proficient in the HPLC analysis but know nothing of gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, or microbial analysis by PCR. Often times, I pay close attention to a prospective staff’s job history. Have they been hopping around employments every year? If they have worked for 9 of the 10 cannabis labs in the state in a period of 3 years, your “spidey senses should be tingling.” Same caution if they have moved several states in a short period of time. Are there large jumps in titles? I have seen folks jump from lab tech to lab director in a year’s period! While some may be decidedly well-deserved, such jumps are rare occurrences and should be a red flag to a prospective employer. Of course, in any situation, there can be legitimate explanations for any of the red flags above and that is up to you as an employer to ask those questions and assess the responses.
Finally, there are tools out there to help any employer vet a prospective employee, such as those used for behavioral assessment; simple tools to give a quick snapshot as to how your candidate may fit in their role or within the company as a whole. I have used and seen this work firsthand and it is invaluable. It cannot be overstated how important it is that your staff not only work well in a team but have a strong sense of integrity. As you may already know, these types of candidates are very few in the cannabis space, but they do exist. Cannsultation can help you in vetting candidates, a part of our service that ensures you are running a high-quality laboratory with great people and built-in integrity.
Stay tuned for “Thing 3: Cannabis is a horrible matrix.” And no, I’m not talking about taking the red or blue pill; but if that is your cup of tea, then we’re definitely going to be taking the red pill.