Harvest Health embeds a culture of continuous learning with Litmos

As a vertically integrated cannabis company and multi-state operator, Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. strives to deliver an unrivaled experience for their patients, customers, vendors, and employees. From seed to sale, to crafting and curating the brands they create and carry, through medical or recreational programs, Harvest delivers training across all four verticals of their organization: cultivation, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. Harvest’s six-person L&D Team ensures the training they deliver via Litmos is purpose-driven; they know despite being a multiple vertical company they can’t have siloed training. With Litmos, Harvest’s L&D Team can embed continuous learning into their company culture, ensuring the training provided ties into their employees’ everyday roles and responsibilities. In turn, this increases employee knowledge and retention, so they’re prepared to act correctly when different situations arise.

When Harvest’s Director of Learning & Development, Valerie Marsh, joined in 2018, Harvest had just over 500 employees. In 12 months, they had grown to almost 3,000. Valerie knew this rate of growth, combined with multiple states and verticals, meant Harvest needed to have an effective learning strategy from day one. When looking for an LMS, Harvest searched for a platform that could not only deliver training specific to each vertical across all the states, but would ensure regulatory compliance, reporting, and leadership visibility from the corporate level down to each individual team member.

Since each vertical has multiple levels from new hire through executive, Harvest also needed to consider the scope of the training. With the cannabis industry not yet federally legal in the United States, Harvest had to ensure it could meet legal, regulatory, and compliance obligations on a state-by-state and within some states, municipality level. This, coupled with an ongoing exponential growth trajectory, speed to rollout, and numerous stakeholder expectations drove Harvest’s decision-making process. With Litmos, Harvest met all these expectations in every way possible.

Harvest now also uses Litmos for role-specific training across all four verticals to ensure everyone has the knowledge needed to perform their job correctly, effectively, and legally. In retail alone, this includes nearly 600 Dispensary Associates and 70 retail managers across five states. Additionally, in states where both medical and recreational cannabis are legal, training programs must address the nuances of these unique customer interactions and sales. Add all the other verticals, and the breadth and depth of this scope can seem daunting. Luckily, Litmos makes every aspect from delivery to reporting quick and simple.

As Harvest continues to grow, its leaders all understand how vital it will be to ensure Harvest’s employees have the continuing opportunity for career growth either within their specific vertical or within other areas of the company such as finance, accounting, human resources, or wherever their passions may lead them. Litmos makes it easy to create and launch eLearning, virtual, and blended training for Harvest’s employees to explore.