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