Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m so glad you’re here us today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, it is great be here.
SM: At Vimeo, you lead a workforce of 1,300 people worldwide — you have creatives, have finance people, you have technologists. So I’m going start with a really easy question: what was it like to manage this diverse workforce a global pandemic, a racial reckoning and a very return to office?
AS: Oh, it was a breeze, Stephanie. No, was really challenging. You know, I think the only has been change. And as a leader, you obviously — you have a that’s looking for certainty, and they’re looking to control what’s happening around them. And think what we all found, as leaders, no matter what company you … responsible for, was that you couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always control the environment and things around you. And so, you know, for me, was really about agility. How do we stay flexible as a team? do we communicate in real time and keep people as we try and move through things? And then, also just how do we lead more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one of the things I’ve really learned the last few years is we each experience the world differently. We have employees who are remote. We have an incredible team Ukraine … employees who are on the front lines, are literally at war. On the other hand, you people in different parts of the world who are experiencing mental-health or burnout, and so I think it was really just — the hardest part was not being able give everyone certainty, not being able to just apply a one-size-fits-all rule everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, as a company, build more trust, because to be agile and flexible, to lead with humanity, you have to trust each other. so, I’m sort of optimistic that actually we’re emerging from this time with culture that is more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, more trust.
SM: Can you give an example of that you put into place, perhaps during the pandemic, enhance communications or build trust or create a greater sense of or even to communicate that there is no certainty, that is a muscle that think you’ll continue to use in the organization far into the future?
AS: There’s a of things that we did. One — and we are a video platform, so I have to talk about video, but I mean this sincerely — one of hardest parts, when you’re all sort of disparate, is you lose context and you nuance when you communicate. And we did make a concerted effort to move away email and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, and actually try, particularly our leadership team, when we were communicating, to do it with your face, and your hands and your and your emotions. And we did that through live streaming a lot of communications, recording lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I … I record my screen and just send a note to people. Every new hire does a video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of our we’ve actually replaced with just quick video presentations. And actually, what that really did was allow humanity and the context to come through and I think that us a lot to, kind of, stay close. So that one, I think, really important thing.
Another important thing is, I think, creating mechanisms to make it easier to talk about when things aren’t working, because a critical part being agile is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. And so one the things that we do at Vimeo is we try — I do in all of my town halls, we do it in lot of meetings — is always talk about what’s working, what are our three things, and what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind created, I think, a framework that sort of takes the stigma away talking about what’s not working. And when you make that normalized and for people, I feel like it’s allowed us to be more open, an organization, about what do we need to change, what do we to pivot. And both of those, being more video-first our communication and being more transparent and normalizing what’s not working, I think has been helpful, and certainly something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I that advice about being video-first. So many of our members of workforce live in a video world. They’re used to video as a means of communication. Which brings to my next question. You’ve talked about how the organization changed. How do you see the workforce changing? What is different with the millennials, and even, now, the first wave of Gen Z into the workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, one of the that we think about at Vimeo a lot is a of the mechanisms and communication modes that we still today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed for a totally different and a totally different generation. But I see a lot differences. One of them, I think, is the line between personal life and work life is definitely blending. … If you about your personal life — look at TikTok. This generation is to consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. if they then have to come to work and to be trained a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not going happen, right? Or if you miss the meeting, and you have watch the Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s just not going to happen. And so I that there is definitely sort of this — you know, we talk about the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are fancy words for saying the way … we communicate interact in our personal lives is going to translate to work. And so I think that’s an area of opportunity.
The other thing I see from sort of the generation, the generation coming into the workforce, is sort of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s a desire really understand the “why” behind things. And one of our mantras is we never talk about the “what” without the “why.” I think there’s a desire to — the idea that, well, there’s hierarchy, or “My boss told me that this is what we’re to do” or — that, I think, is increasingly away, and people, they don’t just want to do something someone with formal authority told them to do it. They to do it because they understand why it matters, it ties to the mission. And I think that that leaders to really bring more of the “why” into how communicate and motivate people.
So those are two of the things I see, and then, you know, the third I is just flexibility. I think — and this is true of all of us, but particularly younger generation — I think they’re looking for flexibility they want options and choices. And it’s not always and feasible to provide ultimate flexibility, but this is where try and orient it more to agility. How can we have approaches and principles and committed to things, but also know when to question, and to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share a few examples of ways that you at have tried to really be proactive when it comes to or understanding what your next generation of employees are going to want, either terms of purpose or in terms of benefits or in of flexibility? Are there programs or processes you’ve put in place that really speak to this sea change we’re seeing in terms of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all listening, right? And I think, like many organizations, the we’ve tried to listen and understand our workforce is very similar: it’s and As and engagement surveys, and things like that. And some of the that we’ve done, we have a people and culture NPS, promoter score, the same way we have for our users, for our internal teams. But I would say one the things that we’ve really tried to do is appreciate that when we get from our employees, 1,300 employees … you can’t look the averages. You can’t look at it all in and try and pull out an obvious “Oh, this is everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when you really dig into it and listen and do focus groups and talk to people — what you’ll find is actually there’s very different experiences desires among your employees. And so, I think for us, we’ve really just tried to do is have a bunch of different mechanisms and then resist the urge to conveniently pull, like, “Oh, this is what everyone’s feeling, let’s do this thing as the action.” And it’s hard, and we’re still kind of figuring it out, I will tell you, some of the things that we’ve heard from employees have our approach to hybrid work or travel or even things like our to compensation or our approach to DE and I. So I think it’s more just like I said, agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not treating as, like, an average or the same. And for us, it’s been particularly because we have offices and teams in so many different countries and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re substantial, about the way we solve different things. And used to have a very, sort of, “One Vimeo” approach in the name of consistency and fairness, and we found is we have to be more localized. We do. We have to design mechanisms to support our teams a very different way, because their experiences and the world around them is quite different.
So I that’s definitely been one, and I will tell you, it has a lot of — as an executive team and leadership team — it’s a lot of trying things, it not working, and them. And a great example is our Q and A. I feel like every leader I has a perspective on whether they do open Q and A or anonymous Q A, or real-time Q and A. We’ve changed our approach there multiple times, and I we will again, because we’re still figuring out the right way to and have a dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: want to stay on newcomers to the workplace for just another moment, because thing I hear from CEOs of my generation and older is a about making sure that we are not just providing our employees with the flexibility and the purpose that they need, also the training and the wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from in close proximity to a mentor or to somebody who’s the job for many more years. What is your philosophy take on making sure that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I it’s a major challenge that I don’t know that everyone will of have a solution for. I think about that all the time. We have a distributed workforce at Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My team is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the of being able to have a distributed workforce and being able to attract talent and just be inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, I think, a of the same kinds of learning opportunities and mentorship, for the youngest folks that are entering the workforce. I think it’s a challenge. One of the approaches that we’ve taking, and what’s sort of nice, is we’re modeling it at top. So if my entire executive team is distributed, that means I have learn how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a whole of new executives who have just joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team almost in the last twelve months. So I’ve had to with the same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — we call it our operating — we’ve had to design an operating system, as an executive team, for how we’re going work together in that environment. How do we share real-time feedback? How do we create the right loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more we have to be able to do ourselves and model it and then, I think it’s a more proven for young people. I will say, like many companies … do believe that in-person collaboration is really important for learning. do have — we bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we ask to come in and spend time in a room with their team, do social activities, all of things. I don’t think they will go away, nor do think they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an that I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly and I it’s really critical that as leaders, we do that, so that next generation is able to get the same growth opportunities that we had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the tools that you mentioned at the very of our conversation, around video, can be really helpful there. I’ve heard of a number of organizations have really encouraged their young people to present, as a way of having to go out and find information they need. And then, because we have video available to us now, you know, they have an opportunity to share their ideas with a group of people, but first, kind of going through fact-finding and the research, and then sharing their ideas. In an comment, you talked a little bit about mental illness and the different things people are bringing to work, whether it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Black Lives Matter protests, we had lot of people coming to the office feeling trauma, feeling really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering if can share a little bit about how you deal with this increasing — you know, when people bring their whole selves the office, which we encourage, sometimes, they bring things, of themselves that are challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve thought the responsibility of a leader is to empower people to their best work and the responsibility of a company to empower our people to do their best work. so, of course, we have a real role to in supporting things like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, way I think, like many companies, the way we initially probably to do that was more, you know, you’re seeing problem and you’re reacting by trying to provide mental-health resources support or time off. And, I think — and empathy, empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, to so many of our managers … care. If we just care, a lot of things easier. You don’t have to design a hundred mechanisms if just have the right people in place who care. At the time, I will say what we’re realizing now, in sort of this phase, is that that’s a reactive approach and actually the cause — that we can control at Vimeo — root cause of a lot of stress and burnout sometimes people either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking people to do too things or they don’t feel like they’re supported in doing those things. And that, I think, actually where we should be spending more time — is how do we set the right prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s a root there that’s a “Oh, I feel like I’m stressed there’s too much going on. I don’t feel equipped to it.” Then, we should get into the “What is detail there, and do we need to do things differently?” And, know, one of our themes at Vimeo this year “Do less, better.”
SM: As the economy starts to, maybe, sideways, do you think that there are going to stakeholders who say, you know, “Out with all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where my results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has swung pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, as a service, so we already went from “growth all cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My perspective this — and it hasn’t changed — I think the best leaders and deliver results and treat people well. And I actually think, if you treat well, with kindness and empathy, you will get better results. so, you know, for me, I think what I observed over the few years is — that part, I think, hasn’t and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, a lot of times when companies, we things because maybe it was lip service or we felt pressured. And that’s going to be sustainable. But that’s not what — ultimately, that’s what people need, in any case. So, you know, I sort of it as — the way you channel how you caring towards your employees and how you are empathetic, always should be in service helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, which be good for the bottom line. And you have believe that. You have to be committed to that and if use that consistently in your decision-making, it should not be a trade-off. These are not exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been taking care of during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, but growth? You mentioned you just had a baby. There’s lot on your shoulders. How, as a leader, do you some self-care or how do you make sure that you’re getting the you need to be the most effective leader you can be?
AS: I think — recently, the I use a lot to myself is “two things can be true, both be true.” I say this a lot. And for me, I of it as, like, “This job is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We public at the height of the pandemic and last year, market volatility been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a ton with post-pandemic, we have a team Ukraine going through a war — all these things that have happened. And so, it’s hard job, and it’s an incredibly privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, I for me, it’s sort of acknowledging both of those has helped me a lot. The way I’ve tried to kind of lead, been — it’s always been this way, which is, for me, it’s I have have passion. I have to have passion. I have to believe so deeply that Vimeo is doing is important and matters for the world. And I have passion, I have energy and then I — I can kind of move through anything. I have to find joy my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look back at career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work were when — in hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought a group of people together all on one team, and I think that’s been, you know, a really big of it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be a selfish sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I am fortunate. I think I have a great support network around me and I do … My husband and have a deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for a of hours. I just disappear and I walk around the city and listen to my music and do whatever I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you about how hybrid work is going to look very different in future than how we describe it today. It’s basically in a couple of days, work from home a couple of days. Tell us a little bit more about what could potentially see that evolving into.
AS: I think idea of an office as a time and place completely goes away. And I it’s really going to be people are going to want to work anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the concept of where you’re located going to change. And then the idea of like “I’m going to work this time zone” or “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s on this date” — I think that’s going to go away. And I think you’re going to find is more and more work, particularly from knowledge workers, is going to done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration will happen asynchronously and we be using tools and technology — whether it’s video, whether it’s AI — basically enable that at scale among many people, anywhere in the world. And then I think leadership, leaders are to look different. Because I think it’s going to require — if you think about the skill set to be global CEO 30 years ago versus what that will require now — think in the future … the skill set is going to be like, “How do communicate with diverse, global audiences and employees across time zones in a way that is effective, that context and alignment at scale? How do you organize programs, whether it’s compensation, it’s, you know, training?” All of that is going to look very different. I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … there were these constraints that we’ve with, whether it was time or place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints going to go away. And the promise is that if we are flexible and and we use technology in the right way, that we’ll actually come away much more evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, I you just showed us some of the passion that you’ve talked about as being the that gives you energy to lead that organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, you so much for being here today.
AS: Thank you. This great.