Balancing Trust, Patience, and Communication in the Workplace

An often-overlooked fact about recruiters is the fact that we are excellent resources for career guidance. Similarly, agencies like M&F Talent have a strong grasp of trends in the workplace. These trends often across several age groups and generations. As the cannabis industry continues to transition into a mainstream affair, it begins to resemble more traditional lines of work. As such, the cannabis business shares many of the struggles felt in other industries. This notion is particularly applicable concerning the habits of a younger workforce.

Early this spring, the Wall Street Journal reached M&F Talent’s Mike Ruane for for information about the work habits of millennials in the cannabis industry. The crux of the article, titled “The Office Rookies Who Ask for the World,” is a new trend in which “rookie” employees are too quick to ask for things like promotions, raises, and additional responsibility. In the article, they interview business owners, company managers, and recruiters to understand this assessment of young professionals. The WSJ piece offers some sound career guidance for those people feeling restless in the workplace.

Young Professionals and Patience in the Workplace

According to The Wall Street Journal, many businesses today are struggling to keep up with the demands of a younger workforce. Largely because, companies often have minimum employment requirements that must be realized before employees are even eligible for things like promotions, raises, and transfers. Even more, in the cannabis industry, we often see that “startup businesses” don’t have the infrastructure to fast-track this younger generation into their dream jobs. Yet, cannabis companies need the youthful talent of millennials to stay competitive in today’s market. This notion applies in the cannabis business and beyond.

The WSJ turned to Ruane in trying to uncover information on how cannabis employers are dealing with this workplace trend. Ruane mentioned a previous M&F Talent client that offered a salesperson a new title after a year of employment. In this situation, a potential promotion was negotiated at the time of hiring. However, it was still contingent on the salesperson meeting performance goals for one year. Point being, our cannabis client figured out a way to attract the talent they needed, while still ensuring that promotions and raises are earned not “handed out.” As such, some great career guidance for young professionals in cannabis and beyond is to be patient and “earn your keep” at a new job. In working with this cannabis industry client, the recruiters at M&F Talent helped them find a creative solution to a problem. As the cannabis business is comprised of startups in its entirety, it often takes this sort of “out of the box thinking” to make business relationships work. We pride ourselves in providing our candidate’s with sound career guidance. Similarly, our recruiters enjoy helping our clients resolve issues with attracting and retaining top talent.

Summary / Career Guidance for Young Professionals

In looking at this WSJ article, some valuable information can be gleaned about success in the workplace. Namely, fruitful employee / employer relationships are based on a careful balance of trust, patience, and communication. Therefore, it is vital that employees have a clear understanding of their role in their company. This notion applies whether an employee is a millennial or a well-seasoned executive. In the end, this understanding only comes with effective communication. Also, it is essential that employees trust that hard work will be recognized and rewarded.

As a leading cannabis recruiting service, M&F Talent has a first-hand view of how new trends manifest in the cannabis industry. It will be interesting to see how a young workforce will continue to shape this emergent industry. At M&F Talent, we will continue to put our passions into providing sound career guidance for our candidates.