Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m glad you’re here with us today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, it is great to be here.
SM: At Vimeo, lead a workforce of 1,300 people worldwide — you have creatives, have finance people, you have technologists. So I’m going to start with a easy question: what was it like to manage this diverse workforce through a global pandemic, a reckoning 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, you obviously — you have workforce that’s looking for certainty, and they’re looking to what’s happening around them. And I think what we all found, as leaders, matter what company you were … responsible for, was that you couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always the environment and the things around you. And so, you know, for me, it was really agility. How do we stay flexible as a team? How do communicate in real time and keep people informed as we try and 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 employees who are remote. We have an incredible team in Ukraine … employees who are the front lines, who are literally at war. On other hand, you have people in different parts of the who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, and so I think it was really just — the part was not being able to give everyone certainty, not being able to just apply a one-size-fits-all for everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, as a company, build more trust, because to be agile and flexible, and to with humanity, you have to trust each other. And so, I’m sort optimistic that actually we’re emerging from this time with a culture that is more flexible and nimble, also, hopefully, has more trust.
SM: Can you give an example of something that you into place, perhaps during the pandemic, to enhance communications or build trust or create greater sense of community or even to communicate that there no certainty, that is a muscle that you think you’ll to use in the organization far into the future?
AS: There’s a of things that we did. One — and we a video platform, so I obviously have to talk about video, I mean this sincerely — one of the hardest parts, you’re all sort of disparate, is you lose context and you lose nuance when you communicate. we did make a concerted effort to move away from email and chat, text-based communication, much as possible, and actually try, particularly for our team, when we were communicating, to do it with your face, your hands and your body and your emotions. And did that through live streaming a lot of communications, a lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I … I record my screen and just send a note out to people. new hire does a video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced just quick video presentations. And actually, what that really did was allow the humanity 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 to talk about things aren’t working, because a critical part of being agile is recognizing have an area that isn’t working. And so one of the things that do at Vimeo is we try — I do in all of my town halls, we do it in a of meetings — is always talk about what’s working, what are our top things, and what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind of created, I think, framework that sort of takes the stigma away from talking what’s not working. And when you make that normalized comfortable for people, I feel like it’s allowed us be more open, as an organization, about what do we need change, what do we need to pivot. And both those, being more video-first in our communication and being transparent and normalizing what’s not working, I think has really helpful, and certainly something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love advice about being video-first. So many of our members our workforce live in a video world. They’re used video as a means of communication. Which brings me to my question. You’ve talked about how the organization has changed. 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, of the things that we think about at Vimeo a lot is a lot of the and communication modes that we still use today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed for a totally different environment and totally different generation. But I see a lot of differences. One of them, think, is the line between your personal life and work life definitely blending. … If you think about your personal life — look at TikTok. This generation used to consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. And if then have to come to work and to be trained a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not to happen, right? Or if you miss the meeting, and you have to the Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s just not going to happen. And so think that there is definitely sort of this — know, we talk about the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are just fancy for saying the way … we communicate and interact our personal lives is going to translate to work. And so definitely think that’s an area of opportunity.
The other I see from sort of the generation, the newest generation coming into the workforce, sort of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s a desire to really understand the “why” things. And one of our communication mantras is we never talk about “what” without the “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 going to do” or — that, think, is increasingly moving away, and people, they don’t just to do something because someone with formal authority told them to do it. They to do it because they understand why it matters, why it ties to mission. And I think that that forces leaders to bring more of the “why” into how we communicate and motivate people.
So those are two the things I see, and then, you know, the third think is just flexibility. I think — and this true of all of us, but particularly the younger — I think they’re looking for flexibility and they options and choices. And it’s not always easy and feasible to provide ultimate flexibility, but this is I try and orient it more to agility. How can we have approaches and principles and be to things, but also know when to question, and to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share a examples of ways that you at Vimeo have tried to really be proactive when it comes to or understanding what your next generation of employees are to want, either in terms of purpose or in terms of benefits or terms of flexibility? Are there programs or processes you’ve put in that really speak to this big sea change we’re in terms of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, course, it’s all about 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 the things that we’ve done, we have a people and NPS, net promoter score, the same way we have for our users, for our teams. But I would say one of the things that we’ve really tried to do is that when we get inputs from our employees, 1,300 employees … you can’t look at averages. You 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 really dig into it and truly listen and do groups and talk to people — what you’ll find is there’s very different experiences and desires among your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve really just to do is have a bunch of different listening mechanisms and then resist the 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, but will tell you, some of the things that we’ve heard from employees have changed our to hybrid work or travel or even things like our approach to compensation or our approach DE and I. So I think it’s more just like said, that agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not treating everything as, like, an average the same. And for us, it’s been particularly stark we have offices and teams in so many different countries the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, about the way we solve different things. And we used to a very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the of consistency and fairness, and what we found is have to be more localized. We really do. We to design mechanisms to support our teams in a very different way, their experiences and the world around them is quite different.
So I that’s definitely been one, and I will tell you, it has involved lot of — as an executive team and leadership team — it’s involved a lot trying things, it not working, and changing them. And a great example our Q and A. I feel like every leader know has a perspective on whether they do open and A or anonymous Q and A, or real-time Q and A. We’ve changed our approach there times, and I know we will again, because we’re still out the right way to listen and have a dialogue with a diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on newcomers the workplace for just another moment, because another thing hear from CEOs of my generation and older is a concern about making sure that we are just providing our youngest employees with the flexibility and purpose that they need, but also the training and 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 philosophy 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. I think that all the time. We have a very distributed at Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My executive team is distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits of being able have a distributed workforce and being able to attract and just be more inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, think, a lack of the same kinds of learning 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 taking, and what’s sort of nice, is we’re modeling at the top. So if my entire executive team is distributed, that means I have to how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a whole set of new executives who have joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team entirely in the last twelve months. So I’ve had to with the same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — we call our operating system — we’ve had to design an operating system, as 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? so I think, from my perspective, it’s more we have to be able to do it ourselves and 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 is really important learning. We 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 I think they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an area I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly and I think it’s critical that as leaders, we do that, so that this next generation is able to get the same growth that we all had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the tools that mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, around video, can be really helpful there. I’ve heard a number of organizations that have really encouraged their people to present, as a way of having to go and find the information they need. And then, because we have video tools available to now, you know, they 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 then their ideas. In an earlier comment, you talked a little 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 a lot of people coming to the feeling trauma, and 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 always the responsibility of a leader is to empower people to do best work and the responsibility of a company is to empower our people to do best work. And so, of course, we have a real role to play in supporting things like mental-health 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 by trying to provide mental-health resources or support or time off. And, I think — and empathy, empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, so many of our managers … just care. If we just care, lot of things get easier. You don’t have to design a hundred mechanisms if you just have the people in place who care. At the same time, I will say we’re realizing now, in sort of this next phase, is that’s a reactive approach and actually the root cause — that we can at Vimeo — the root cause of a lot of stress and burnout sometimes people either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking people to do too many things they don’t feel like they’re supported in doing those things. that, I think, is actually where we should be more time — is how 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 I’m stressed because 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 need to do things differently?” And, you know, one our themes at Vimeo this year was “Do less, better.”
SM: As economy starts to, maybe, move sideways, do you think that there are going to be stakeholders who say, know, “Out with all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are my results?”
AS: Absolutely. think the pendulum has already swung pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, as a service, so we already went from “growth at all cost” “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My perspective on this — it hasn’t changed — I think the best leaders and cultures results and treat people well. And I actually think, you treat people well, with kindness and empathy, you get better results. And so, you know, for me, I think what I over the last few years is — that part, think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, a of times when companies, we did things because maybe it was lip or we felt pressured. And that’s not going to sustainable. But that’s not what — ultimately, that’s not people need, in any case. So, you know, I sort of see it — the way you channel how you are caring your employees and how you are empathetic, always should be 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. have to be committed to that and if you use that consistently in decision-making, it should not be a trade-off. These are mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been taking care of yourself this period of tremendous turmoil and change, but also growth? mentioned you just had a baby. There’s a lot on your shoulders. How, a leader, do you practice some self-care or how you make sure that you’re getting the balance you need to the most effective leader you can be?
AS: I think — recently, the phrase use a lot to myself is “two things can be true, both can 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 the height of the pandemic and last year, market volatility has tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a ton with post-pandemic, have a team in 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 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 of lead, has — it’s always been this way, which is, for me, it’s have to have passion. I have to have passion. I have to so deeply that what Vimeo is doing is important and matters the world. And if I have passion, I have energy and then will — I can kind of move through anything. I have to find joy in team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look back at my career and actually, some my most fulfilling times in work were when — the hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought group of people together all on one team, and so think that’s been, you know, a really big part of it. then, yeah, like, you have to be a little sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I am really fortunate. think I have a great support network around me and do … My husband and I have a deal, 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 whatever I to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you talked how hybrid work 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. us a little bit more about what you could see that evolving into.
AS: I think the idea an office as a time and place completely goes away. And I think it’s really going to be are going to want to work from anywhere, anywhere in world. Even the concept of where you’re located is going to change. then the idea of like “I’m going to work on this zone” or “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s scheduled this date” — I think that’s going to go away. And I think what you’re going to 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, it’s AI — to basically enable that at scale among many people, anywhere in the world. then I think leadership, leaders are going to look different. Because think it’s going to require — if you think about the skill set to a global CEO 30 years ago versus what that will require — I think in the future … the skill set is going be 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 is going to look very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll is just … there were these constraints that we’ve lived with, whether it time or place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints are going to go away. the promise is that 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 some of the passion that you’ve talked about as the thing 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.