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Member Blog: The Ever-Evolving Chief Human Capital/Human Resources Role

by Bryan Passman, Co-Founder and CEO of Hunter + Esquire

More than any other role in an organization, the role of the Chief Human Capital/Human Resources (CHC/HR) Officer has changed. It continues to do so as organizations grow and shift. Nothing could be more accurate in this current pandemic environment. Understanding the critical need for this role and the types of capabilities you should be looking for in a candidate will help prepare you for your search and ensure that you’re evaluating potential candidates based on the real needs so that when we enter into our new normal, your organization is prepped and set up for success and not trying to play catch up based on some missteps. We’ve curated a list of the qualifications and criteria below that your top tier candidates should possess to fill this critical leadership position.

  1. Strategic mindset and business acumen: The CHC/HR Officer is expected to be discerning, future-orientated, open-minded, commercially astute, and able to make evidence-based decisions. They will develop robust people plans aligned to the business strategy. A people plan cannot merely serve internal HR functional requirements; it must demonstrate an impact on the business.

  2. Change and transformation management: Play a leading role in defining and adapting corporate strategies, structures, procedures, and technologies to handle changes in external conditions and the business environment. The people side of change management is often the most important element above the technical tasks necessary to enact change. When the people side of change is poorly managed, change often fails or doesn’t achieve desirable results. Driving change management and transformation requires an organization to embrace learning agility and innovation as a culture. The CHC/HR Officer is often expected to embody this agility and be the catalyst for change and transformation.

  3. Mastery of executive compensation: Issues of pay equality continue to gain prominence in the market, and this leader must play a key role in designing competitive, equitable compensation packages. This includes innovative and sometimes creative incentive structures to attract and retain key talent. The position is to continuously test internal pay structures against the market where potential gaps and risks are identified and develop risk mitigation plans.

  4. A clear understanding of board governance: Cannabis organizations are increasingly scrutinizing executive compensation, examining linkages of talent and performance, focusing on CEO succession, and the broad talent agenda. The Chief HC/HR role can add value to the board by bringing expertise in compensation, succession, talent, and the people-based implications of mergers and acquisitions.

  5. External focus: Today’s cannabis HC/HR Chief has to have a good sense of the external industry and the competitive landscape. She/he should keep abreast by playing an active role in relevant industry bodies. Talent is becoming increasingly mobile-savvy, which makes it all the more important for this leader to have a strategic mindset.

  6. Shape culture: The head of HR holds a key role in defining and co-creating the organizational culture with the executive leadership team. A company’s organizational culture can make or break the most insightful strategy. The executive leadership team and the HC/HR Chief have a shared responsibility in creating and driving a culture that is aligned with the business strategy.

  7. Committed to diversity and inclusion: For diversity and inclusion to be successful, it has to be a top-to-bottom business-critical mission that is embedded in all aspects of the organization. Diversity and inclusion practices should be led in close partnership with the CEO, with the HR Lead playing an important role in articulating the business case for diversity alongside the CEO.
  1. Leadership gravitas: The ideal candidate must possess significant confidence and power supported by competence and an undisputed delivery track record. This power is acquired through strong interpersonal relationship skills, the ability to influence others, and being respected and admired. This type of power is particularly important in this role since it is built on collaboration and influence rather than command and control. In addition, HR leaders must have the ability to assess risk, to demonstrate independent thinking and speak truth to power, having the courage to say “No,” when necessary.
  1. Balance agendas of high-level stakeholders: Your ideal candidate should have experience serving multiple high-level stakeholders such as the CEO, board, shareholders, and employees who often have competing demands. The capability to effortlessly navigate and balance the various needs through effective communication, seeking alignment, and managing expectations is a must.
  1. Visible, value-added partner: The head of HR is a critical stakeholder in the health of the organization. It’s important that your hire has an open door policy and is proactive about building teamwork and company culture. They should be seen everywhere within the organization. HR leaders must be on the pulse of the organization at all times to make unpleasant surprises less likely to happen. 

These ten key areas are all critical when hiring a CHC/HR leader for your organization. If you use this list as a checklist when you hire this critical role (or evaluating your current leadership) and find positive responses to all, you should have an excellent fit for your team! 

Bryan Passman is a father, a husband, a trailblazer, and Co-founder and CEO of Hunter + Esquire. My professional background before launching H+E was entirely in retained executive search for 18 years in MedTech/Pharma (15 yrs) and Food and Adult Beverage CPG (3 yrs). My deep knowledge of those highly regulated and nuanced industries has helped H+E significantly understand the needs and wants of our cannabis clients. My deep and genuine networks within those industries have helped us deliver that rare talent “unicorn” our clients desire to fit their particular needs. My client-first approach helps us provide a very customized, white-glove, headhunter treatment to client and candidate.

Member Blog: The Women in Cannabis Study – Advocacy, Allies, and Voting

by Jennifer Whetzel, Ladyjane Branding

It can be easy to forget the beginnings of the cannabis industry. The stigma we had to fight. The laws we had to change. The pounding anxiety stemming from societal pressure and legal threats. But here we are in 2020, leading a nearly $10 billion industry in the U.S. with a promising future.

Being at the beginnings of a new industry is a powerful experience; seeing the fruits of our labor and the positive effects of legalization have been galvanizing and heartening. We’ve built something unique. But it’s still subject to the pressures and pitfalls of any other industry. 

We’ve worked on legalization, supply chains, and policy, but what about equity? What about ensuring that the industry was diverse? And most importantly, how do we even know where we’re starting from?

The only way to move forward was deceptively clear: gather the data. I founded the Women In Cannabis Study after hearing stories of real women and recognizing the need for our undivided attention to shift to diversity and inclusion in the cannabis industry.  

Much like a lot of the research in the cannabis industry, anecdotal data has ruled. In some ways, the lack of clinical research in cannabis has gotten us away from valuing qualitative data when looking for insights into particular issues in the cannabis industry. Ultimately, we need substantial numbers and stories to understand our industry and ultimately, form a game plan for equity. 

So let’s start with the numbers. So far, data from our survey shows that 68% of women identify as heterosexual compared with 2010 U.S. census data showing 95% heterosexual. It’s a heartening sign that on its face, this is a welcoming environment for people of various sexual orientations. 

Unfortunately, our findings also show the industry isn’t immune to sexist behavior. 

By asking hard questions through the study, we’ve pinpointed that 33% of our sample as of February 5 have been sexually harassed while working in the cannabis industry. 1 in 3 is a huge number. It’s also worth noting that in our survey, 52.6% of women reported being sexually harassed in another industry—a sign that there might be a substantial difference in the cannabis industry to build on so that we can get that number to 0.

Additionally, only 23% of our study sample say they are paid the same salary as male coworkers in similar positions and 52% feel they have lost opportunities because they are a woman. Fifty-nine percent of women have experienced bullying or lack of support from other women in the industry, showing that even new industries are not free of toxic professional dynamics in the wider business world.

So we have work to do. Or as I like to think of it, we have an opportunity.

That means not going down the same rabbit hole many industries have. It means data points sourced from an academically rigorous study. It means stories about bud-tenders, growers, scientists, extraction and edibles manufacturers, lawyers, doctors, and activists that emerge as a direct result of an academically rigorous study.  It means industry-wide alliances.

Alliances come from a shared desire to make big changes. And that only happens when we decide that our goals are worth sharing. 

The reality is, we need everyone’s help to tell the full story. While we have enough responses to tell the story of women as a collective group, we are lacking diversity and representation in our sample. We need at least 50 of each of the following populations of women in order to compare communities of women and we aren’t there yet. 

If you believe our goal is worth sharing — if you believe that doing the work of creating equity is worth it — tell your story. Encourage your employees to tell theirs. This industry doesn’t belong to one person. Let’s find a way to show that to the world. 

TAKE THE SURVEY

JenniferThe Women In Cannabis Study (WICS) is an academically rigorous, global, comprehensive quantitative study to explore, document and ultimately support women’s participation in the cannabis industry. This groundbreaking study supports the development of actionable recommendations and strategies to make the cannabis industry equitable and inclusive for everyone. The WICS mission is to tell the story of women, as well as individual women’s stories—with data. The study was developed by Jennifer Whetzel, founder of Ladyjane Branding, joined by U.S. research lead Dr. Nicole Wolfe of Wolfe Research & Consulting.

Ladyjane Branding empowers entrepreneurs to build a smart, strategic and consistent brand identity. Founded by veteran marketing executive, Jennifer Whetzel, Ladyjane has simplified the branding techniques used by Fortune 500 companies. Her signature creations include the Two-Hour Brand Makeover, Ladyjane’s Brand Archetype Quiz, and an Archetypal Segmentation Model – all designed to provide inspiration and guidance to help brands create deep emotional connections with consumers, multiply the effects of marketing and advertising and increase their company’s value.

 

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