Can a career dispensary manager transition to managing a full scale hospitality concept that has cannabis? The reason I ask is… I’d love to hear some feedback from both sides of the conversation, and I have many a cannabis professional and hospitality professional in my network. As we are hiring now for the Cirrus Social Club General Manager position, we are receiving applications from both sides. Experienced hospitality and restaurant managers, as well as dispensary managers. To me a dispensary is a very different operation from a restaurant or hospitality concept. Simply from the personal perspective that I strongly disliked working in retail (slow, time dragging, teamwork not required for the majority) vs working in restaurants (fast paced, a lot of moving parts and teamwork) which I love. As we continue to hone in on the specific responsibilities of our future GM, it’s clear that a majority of their time and efforts will be spent on operational aspects, employee management, and assuring compliance. Of course there would be a focus on customer service, but that’s a skill required across the board for retail and hospitality. So… could a dispensary GM walk into a full service hospitality job and nail it? Can hospitality GMs adapt to the cannabis compliance aspect? If you were in my shoes, would you lean dispensary or hospitality? I’m looking for opinions and thoughts, and grateful for each one given! #cannabis #hospitality #dispensary
Lauren Mundell
3mo
A cannabis industry professional with prior hospitality experience is the ideal fit in my opinion.
Shelby Poole
3mo
Check their dispensary reviews. Hospitality exists in retail stores too. For your concept from what I r observed I’d lean towards having some hospitality specific experience.
Tamara Battle
3mo
I believe that if you can run restaurants you can do anything. The opposite is often not so true.
Kelsey Barton
3mo
I'd personally go for someone who worked in the restaurant industry and made their way into cannabis. Compliance understanding is key to getting a new operation and new style of license off the ground. Depending what food / bev services will be allowed today (and tomorrow) you'd be prepared for them to partner with procurement, layout changes, inventory management and understanding of BOH and FOH in both hospitality and the cannabis / metric side.
Ryan McKee
3mo
If I were in your shoes, I would establish a clear and detailed system for the role. This would include streamlining the entire process and identifying someone with strong attention to detail to assist in creating comprehensive training manuals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each step. This approach ensures that you don't need to overthink every decision and can rely on data over time to make informed choices. I have opened a variety of service and experience-oriented businesses. The best ones are those that take good notes at the start and avoid wasting time trying to figure things out that require time to be figured out. By having a clear system and detailed documentation from the beginning, you can focus on making data-driven decisions and improving processes efficiently. I would also look for someone who has done this in their past role. Additionally, seeking someone with experience in opening up new concepts is crucial because that, in and of itself, is a niche skill set. It sounds like your retail experience, where you found the process slow and teamwork lacking, was just a bad experience and not indicative of a good retail environment.
Trying to make a very complicated answer look simple here so forgive me. Could a dispensary GM walk in and nail it? Sure, 100% it may be just the jump into a field they are born for. Should you as the hiring manager expect it? Ehhh? Probably not, if for nothing else than the hospitality industry has a steep learning curve that they likely just won't be 100% prepared for. Can a hospitality candidate adapt to cannabis compliance? Sure, but my bet is going to be that it is easier for someone moving from a corporate structure where rule implementation is common place and far more strictly enforced than private restaurants no matter how successful. Now bear in mind my input comes from time in nothing but private restaurants, and it was categorically ages ago. So take all of it with an enormous grain salt.
Chesney Claire
3mo
If I were in your shoes, I'd lean towards ME ;) Although Ive been a Bud Tender for years, I also worked in Hospitality at Fontainebleau (where I thrived), Pun intended. I have experience in both and I am extremely knowledgeable about different strains, different terpenes, and the ingredients in each and what you can expect from consumption. I am from Louisiana's Deep South so Hospitality is my middle name. I love the challenge of turning a frown upside down! I was Employee of The Month at Thrive selling well over $25,000 of product in a week! *You should be looking for someone JUST LIKE ME ;) LOL www.chesneyclaire.com ChesneyClaireMusic@gmail.com
Thomas O'Neill
3mo
I think you’ll find an overlap between the two industries - where those dispensary manager had hospitality experience or those hospitality pros had cannabis experience(legacy) Finding the individual that has a healthy mix of experience with both is ideal, because that’s what’s required. I know a few people with background and education in hospitality that currently work within the retail cannabis space… mostly Canadian though. Where is the job going to be?
Rocio V.
3mo
Having worked predominantly in hospitality and then later transitioning into Dispensary/cannabis realm. My skillset was more adaptable than those not being in the hospitality/restaurant industry. For many years I've advocated for chefs, servers and restaurant industry folks to get into the cannabis industry. The skillset is unmatchable and I'd recommend a restaurant/hotel background experience individual moreover a general Dispensary manager experience individual. Personally, Social consumption clubs can definitely benefit from someone with hospitality experience they definitely needs to have 6yrs plus though....Best of luck to you and your search for the candidate that fits your vision!! 😇
I would absolutely say a traditional GM would be able to handle a dispensary, but I'm not sure about the other way around...there are so many more moving components in a restaurant...when becoming a manger of a large scale corporate restaurant has to go through some rigorous training and in some cases, traveling out of state to attend training schools and openings. I wouldn't particularly lean either way, but working in restaurant management(particularly Mother's Day) is working in the trenches