live from your public media studios wdia presents Keystone addition business a public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in north eastern and Central Pennsylvania This is Keystone addition business now moderator chris Jones welcome the Keystone Edition I'm your host chris Jones pandemic restrictions are starting to ease and many businesses are reopening their doors to employees customers and visitors however many places including restaurants and other service industries are struggling to get back to full capacity and flowers because they can't get applicants for open positions There's a number of reasons why including the fact that many workers have gotten used to remote work and wanted to continue What are your thoughts on remote work You can reach out by phone at 1 800 3269 eight four to email at Keystone at wgbh wba dawg or on social with the hashtag Keystone business but first wdia is Paul is are takes a closer look at the job market right now has restricted restrictions lift from the Covid-19 pandemic the u s job market is starting to bounce back New unemployment numbers came out recently and job numbers are on the rebound The u s bureau of labor statistics reports the national unemployment rate for april was six point one percent however the unemployment rate is much higher in scranton wilkes-barre hazleton area at nine percent but if there are so many people out of work Why a restaurant struggling to hire workers workers It's actually part of a nationwide struggle to hire restaurant workers there were mass layoffs when the pandemic forced many restaurants to close or cut back hours now as those restaurants try to fully reopened There are more positions Then there are workers but that's just part of the problem Some people believe that workers who are unemployed are choosing to stay that way because they're making more collecting unemployment benefits however the data is inconclusive experts suggest that some workers aren't comfortable going back into a restaurant environment yet with the coronavirus still circulating other former restaurant workers have simply gotten other jobs with better pay and more flexibility such as working from home The bureau of labor statistics report shows that fewer people tell reworked last month compared to the previous month which could be an indicator that more businesses are reopening their office faces many employers had to embrace telework due to the pandemic to keep operations going now a year later some larger companies are giving employees the option to make the change permanent A report from npr shows google is just one business offering its workers some flexibility by giving them the option to tell a work permanently work in a different location Work work a hybrid schedule were there in the office a few days a week and working elsewhere the a report from microsoft shows workers like the flexibility of remote work but many crave in-person interaction with co-workers which is where a hybrid scheduled is helpful national public radio reports that a recent study found nearly 80 percent of companies plan to keep remote work to some degree after the pandemic or Keystone Edition business I'm paula zahn now we just need to hear from you Give us a call at one 800 three to six nine eight four too To learn more about the future of workforce development first joining us here in the studio is steve masterson owner offstage west and new are dark spirits in scranton Dr matt soundcheck assistant professor of leadership development at the university of florida and the latest soulless remote based fco consultant and co-founder of remoter scum are both joining us on zune like to start with you steve Welcome to the studio Thanks for having chris So why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself Sure So again my name named steve masterson I live in scranton p a was raised here I graduate from penn state locally and from there I have a business degree focused on account accounting I learned pretty Surely outside of school that accounting and sitting behind a desk wasn't so much for me from the age of five I kind of hung up to tie and got into my own businesses which has eventually led me into the restaurant industry From there That's kind of migrated into the entertainment business the music business And so that's kind of where i'm at now doing producing concerts promoting running a couple of restaurant bars and just general entrepreneurship is is kind of my passion Yeah we're gonna die of a little bit deeper with you in just a couple of minutes on the restaurant industry and the impact of coded above before we come back later Please tell us a little bit more about yourself Yeah I am an internationalist you can sultan and I were remotely I started working remotely back in 2012 when I was still any plea Back then in 2015 seems a lot of people were asking me how I was able to work remotely from whatever I wanted Right I establish our web site which is a remote hop remote there's not net well remote your board that is free A lot of resources how to use tools to show people and organizations organization how they can effectively not only hired but perform in our And that's a sexual successful way in a rowboat based on iran right And since then I have been running the web site with at least on michael from there and simultaneously I have also been running my remote base as ceo consultancy working for many companies very well-known brands all over the war Sometimes they don't even know where I am They don't miss ali her and I tend to travel a lot Also speak a lot at different conferences all over the world as your search marketing conferences and I am able to run also my my business remotely awesome malaita and we'll be coming back to you to talk more about remote work and how you've been one of the foremost advocates for it You know over this last decade or so Dr mats I'll check Welcome back to Keystone Edition for the viewers who didn't get to see you Earlier this season tell us a little bit more about yourself Yeah Chris thank you so much for having me back It was just a few months ago wwere talking about what to expect with switchnd i'm so happy to be back now to talk about what might the new normal look like My name is matt subject I am a professor at the university of florida but i'm really proud that I was born and raised grew up in was educated in NorthEastern Pennsylvania went to wilkes university where I got my psychology degree great then went off to columbia in new york city and then out to gonzaga university get my page and leadership studies and really have been spending a lot of time working with our students here at the university of florida and different companies about how to address this new normal How do we go from that required reaction that we had to deal with back in March april may of last year to a real planned opportunity that we ha now so I couldn't be more excited about this conversation and really looking forward to it and map of before I come back kristie I just want to congratulate you because between when you're on the show last And tonight University of florida recognized you as a professor of the year and I saw that on social media I want to congratulate you for that's really an outstanding honor Thank you so so much really proud of the college really proud of the university of florida and happy to help cows where I work and certainly all the great students that I get so thank you so much for saying that christos road great movie couple minutes so steve Let's come back to you here in studio the pandemic really impacted the two industries you're in both the hospitality industry and the entertainment industry let's first take a look at the restaurant industry what if What's been the biggest challenges for you Since the onset of the pandemic last year Sure So a lot of the challenge has been the constant changing as regulations advanced or regressed and then advanced again you had to keep pivoting of of how you're going going to encourage customers to come eat or how you're going to accommodate delivery takeout services There is so many variables that they kept hitting with us You know almost weekly if not monthly so all these sting ahead of the curve and staying creative to keep generating business was definitely the hardest part of the pandemic for the restaurant industry So you know my next question is how did you overcome those struggles but maybe you could share a little bit more about how maybe you embraced or didn't take out and other ways that you are able to respond so that you're able to keep the doors open Right so unique situation for us at stage west was We are live music venue so beginning of March live music venues were just immediately stop stopped We didn't really focused much on our food per say as opposed to the music so immediately second week of March We had nothing going on So we had to reinvent ourselves as a restaurant and then adopt the take out delivery model immediately and then go from there and just you know the hope that music would come back soon which now it finally is you know this long This far in the future but for the means meantime we had to do a total 180 and go from concert venue to straight up restaurant so it was definitely an interesting transition but like I said we stayed creative and just coming up with new models that that fit the current time and we got through it and so take out became became a big deal where you using services like door dashing grubhub yeah I mean so they used to be doordarshan grubhub were considered you know an extra for a lot of restaurants too To help supplement income for the place after covered began They were pretty much your only option at that point we also implemented virtual restaurants through stage west which is really just a brand that operates on the back of us in the restaurant so it was it was a tough challenge to convince customers that stage we h a great product because to them wereh known as the rock club You know they come in there They watch live music They drink a beer and they have a great time they'd never really think of us as a restaurant So if we could t in some virtual brands in there that they don't necessarily associate with stage west they would give those a try And it wouldn't come with the stigma of You're getting food from the local rock club which again was difficult thing to overcome but in due time after people tried the product and that we were putting out and it seemed to be We had great reviews and we actually gained a great restaurant folwing in the past 18 months Yeah and you saw the viewers understand you also launched a restaurant with with mutual really good friend josh balls during the pandemic interact Yeah As crazy as it was And you know i'm surprised that we even got through it as we did but So back in I think before this began Me and josh had already signed on to do it and then you know we are fed coveted and we're like What are we gonna do now Eventually we did open the doors during the mdle of it obviously using thee we capacity rules and allly that but as of now it's it's flourishing and it's really hard destination spot in scranton but here's the reality right The backdrop is we're still at 50 percent pacity not much incentive for employees toome back and I know one of the good news is is that at the end of this month here in the state of Pesylvania A number of those rules but I understand that you struggled to get employees back and you know in the in the in e setup to the show folks heard that you know people are opting for unemployment in the bonus Some of them are just afraid to come back to work for for health reasons and in some cases you know moms and dads are home karen for their for their online school kids an online school but you know how are you trying to overme that right now so that you could prepare for that restaurant opening back fully Yeah I mean it'sit's it'n industry shakeup and I think it's going to come down to a bigger picture of the whole rests on economics some some restaurants just can't afford to pay the employees more as as restaurant owner I can tell you that the margins are razor thin as it is anyway so you know if if I understand from I used to be a certainly see both sides of the coin if i'm maki the same amount of money to not go to work I mean why Why would you I so there is going to There's gonna be some kind of given take that happens Where it's going to be an issue of w employees are gonna make more but restaurants are still going to stay afloat because again like I said with with a thin margins It's just a tough industry as it is already And now with this added into there too I'm interested to ou Yeah I agree and Isee how evs wish you the best on that night changing dynamic of the restrictions ansition now and talk about the Thathanged work environment so you know the headline is the world went remote and it worked And that's where we're at And so let's chat with al-qaeda about me of what you've been advocating for years you arway ahead of this cve as it rated to remote What are some ofhe benefits to working remote Yes Funnily enough I have to say that even if a lotme of people have finally realized that they are able to work remotely realistically what we had been eerience and so far very much Three covet is were from home Right And it's important to clarify that remote work is doesn't necessily is were from home because with remote work you tend to be able to work from whatever u want d unfortunately we haven't been able to lockdowns and travel restrictions and the pandemic right so good work is about location independence and flexibility and having an owning your life This is the slogan of reporters only your life to be able to have a balanced work life to not hang to commute realizing that you are able to work indepeently up to a location until now we have seen a lot of digil no match the troubling the word so-called o working from bali ashower Likeg the world but realistically This is sothing that professionals e all levels nowadays are able to enjoy too So for example if they don't want to be leaving at a big city where they ne to pay a l of rant he'll be able to develop professionally if they big city where they ne want tstay of rant tir smaller town so I can see a lot of ab to stay Whever their faly or based on their eferens like if they wanto leave by the beach by the motains etc to be able to do it so so much more fxible balance life that you can perfectly well align with your work a developed a presonal the and not having to be restricthat baseongn that to be able to to to enjoy fruiul careeal Right tt badds remoteural and rote work aut so i'verylookg for wors some finisbecaI actuallyid aittl Paul A w months a go for auide oppingpromers righI some finisbecaI aspele if eyill willing to it companies jobs ifgpromers righI th job didt allowsome finisbecaI th to have a ltle bit more flibility at lstr at least regarding mote hybr so roug configuratn in the will bwilling tohift only4 percent y no e rest oy four peent say th just relts becausI alwaysanted to e e belie that thereas been fally appently going tohange righis unfortate that he s been spark by a paemic for sure but I The tech of allowing owledge works mortgaged to be able to work from whatever to the intnet has beenation Ths Right so I This has on change Yeah First where you ar Where are you zooming in from right now by the way I am right now actually in something they're they're not to spain is actually like two a m my time we appreciate that And i'm going to come back to matt I want to bring you in us into this discussion and sort of take the employers point of view on this A later highlighted that flexibility is a big driver from her point of view but you know I start out by saying it worked And what I meant by that was that most of the research is saying that productivity low levels are actually higher in and at work from home environment but I just wanted to point that out but matt Can you speak to to the employers perspective and what are some of the benefits to them of a remote or a hybrid work environment Christmas is a great point in actually from all the research i've read it's about eight percent higher than it was the year before from a productivity standpoint engagement was higher over the year Did it ever had organizations were communicating in a way that they never communicated before employees were suggesting and it was almost 20 percent higher in all of the research that was done that employees said that their managers were leaders were reaching out to them at least one time a week and not in a micromanaging way chris but in a way that they were asking about how is their family doing it How were they managing and what resources Do they need so from an organizational standpoint we've seen leadership like we've never seen before But you're right There are some positives with that And then there's certainly some things to think about because wellness and employee health and well-being really took a hit this year and it especially took a hit with management mit mid-level managers really took on a lot this year they had to communicate like they never had before I did check in They had to figure out how to get their employees to work for home how so throughout the organization there's some exhaustion that's happening at this point that will need to be addressed If we want to keep seeing this engagement if we want to see this product productivity A lot of it's going to come down to how do we lead differently than we've lived in the past but organizations creative organizations great organizations are taking this moment now to redefine the way that they do their business and ultimately how they have employees work and it's really exciting to see sick Yeah I think that you know when you see productivity levels go up You know as an employer myself you know that would have been been the biggest concern of having a hybrid or a remote workforce one of my core companies we've brought staff back on three days in in two days out so more of a hybrid a leader in your case you were really as you said earlier a digital nomad so you traveled the world you speak at 20 or 30 shows a year You're a bestselling author you do a lot of different things How important is it though to you To get on the ground either with your clients or at these conferences to make sure that you're putting named the face and building a relationship yes I think is it is At the end of the day has to do a lot Whether you're wrong character right how you are So for example in my case that was big part of my day today and also because of because I am my own like my own founder I have my own business right so he was very important for me me Yes Keep up with relationships do not walkin et cetera et cetera Conference is also I am an extrovert so I need to speak with people I am not doing home office right I have to say though that I have found that there have been all the type of people because they are introverts they prefer to literally a stay at home they don't necessarily enjoy to call so the time so that is the beauty of remote right as is to have that sort of flexibility if you are like me to have the option to be travelling and connecting going through conferences events meet ups if you wanna go into coworking spaces if you nto rklo a going through e op or inabevents meet unfortunately because of lockdown et cetera We haven't been able to to enjoy of that much right on what I recommend usually organizations right is that they provide that sort of flexibility to their workers So again there is going to be always a share of their employees that will prefer to be at an office at walking along all the people surrounding by people so to give options and alternative even if they don't have have an office location at that place right in or if they want to be able to hire from our global pool of potential workers which is one of the benefits of remote at least they give the option for example to go into a quirky space everyday or from time to time Things like that Let flexibility Here is the key and a force companies need to abate there protocols not only communication and collaboration protocols to be removed front friendly but also like chief sometimes the way that they pretty much conduct business to be able to make them with friendly right That's great And matt I have a question for you For in NorthEastern Central Pennsylvania here it's rural Right And so to a latest point you know when you could hire remote workers There's a bigger job there's a bigger pool of talent which is really really great But that talent now folks businesses from northeaster in Central Pennsylvania are going to have to compete with employers from major cities around the world Can you just give us about a minute of a reflection on that and maybe give some tips some some ideas to some other other entrepreneurs and business owners here back home about how to think about that Yeah you know chris that's a really good question I have thought a lot about it because a number of people have called me have reached out to talk a little bit aut just that about some of their employees leaving the because they were able to get paid more from you know a new york or los angeles company what they should do to be able to address that I think a couple of things need to be said about this one I think back in august back in july We believe that the general population employees believe that this was great we were going to work from home we would never go back Everybody was so excited and then january were hit it most of the research suggests that people said I don't know if I can just work from home all the time and you start to see people suggest that this hybrid model was something that they really really wanted So please do want to go back the office I think the great part of being located in NorthEastern Pennsylvania is you have wonderfully entrepreneurial run businesses with progressive leaders who know that that small business and when I say small business I'm talking about a business that you know maybe doesn't compete with a google or you know microsoft this we've been been talking about But the great part about that is it's so much easier to quickly shift a smaller ship that it is one of those big shifts to turn that so when we talk about change in what we need to start thinking about if you're running into this problem Your advantage is being able to reinvent your organization reinvent in this new normal The way and the things that you provide templates that's great culture that's health and wellness that that is an opportunity for them to come and build collaborative wonderful relationships and out of that growth you will find that employees will be naturally drawn to that But it's going to take some creativity to be able to get that to happen especially in NorthEastern Pennsylvania You're going to have to take some steps in that creative direction so that would be my recommendation And I think as want to have that hybrid of approach meeting them where they are Is really important because as we've heard here Never in history have employees had the empowerment that they have now the power that they have now to demand things like flexibility so meet them were there at And I think the really appreciate that Yeah I think that was a great reflection and I really think in wrapping up the show You know the pandemic has changed the way that we do business and you know examples like steve masterson are perfect to show how we have adapted I really wish all the entrepreneurs that are out there The best of luck locke as the pandemic goes away and you know I'd like to thank our panelists for participating And thank you for joining us For more information on this topic please visit wdia dawg And remember you can watch this episode or any previous episode on demand anytime online or on the wpa ooh for Keystone Edition I'm chris Jones thank you for watching