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