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