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 people — 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. as a leader, you obviously — you have a workforce that’s looking for certainty, they’re looking to control what’s happening around them. And think what we all found, as leaders, no matter what company you were … 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, it was about agility. How do we stay flexible as a team? How do communicate in real time and keep people informed as 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 over the last few years is we each experience world so differently. We have employees who are remote. 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 or burnout, and so I think it was really just — the hardest part was being able to give everyone certainty, not being able just apply a one-size-fits-all rule for everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, as a company, build more trust, because to be agile and flexible, and to lead with humanity, you have to trust other. And so, I’m sort of optimistic that actually we’re emerging from this time a culture that is more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, has more trust.
SM: you give an example of something that you put place, perhaps during the pandemic, to enhance communications or build or create a greater sense of community or even to communicate there is no certainty, that is a muscle that think you’ll continue to use in the organization far 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 the hardest parts, when you’re all sort of disparate, is you lose and you lose nuance when you communicate. And we did make a concerted effort to away from email and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, and actually try, particularly for leadership team, when we were communicating, to do it with your face, your hands and your body and your emotions. And we that through live streaming a lot of communications, recording lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I send … I my screen and just send a note out to people. Every new hire a video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced with just quick presentations. And actually, what that really did was allow the humanity the context to come through and I think that helped a lot to, kind of, stay close. So that was one, I think, important thing.
Another important thing is, I think, just creating mechanisms to make it easier to about when things aren’t working, because a critical part of being agile is recognizing have an area that isn’t working. And so one of things that we do at Vimeo is we try — do this in all of my town halls, we do it in a lot meetings — is always talk about what’s working, what are top three things, and what isn’t working — yet. we’ve kind 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 allowed us to be more open, an organization, about what do we need to change, do we need to pivot. And both of those, being more video-first in our communication and being transparent and normalizing what’s not working, I think has been really helpful, and something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love that advice being video-first. So many of our members of our live in a video world. They’re used to video as a means of communication. 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, and even, now, the first wave of Z coming into the workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, 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 for totally different environment and a totally different generation. But see a lot of differences. One of them, I think, is line between your personal life and work life is definitely blending. … If you think about your life — look at TikTok. This generation is used to content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. And if then have to come to work and to be trained on a job, read 300-page manual? Like, it’s not going to happen, right? if you miss the meeting, and you have to watch Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s just going to happen. And so I think that there is definitely sort this — you know, we talk about the “consumerization enterprise.” Those are just fancy words for saying the way … communicate and interact in our personal lives is going translate to work. And so I definitely think that’s an area of opportunity.
The other I see from sort of the generation, the newest generation coming into 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 communication mantras is we talk about the “what” without the “why.” And I think there’s a desire to — idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, or “My boss told me that this what we’re going 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 them to do it. want to do it because they understand why it matters, why it ties to the mission. I think that that forces leaders to really bring more of “why” into how we communicate and motivate people.
So those two of the things I see, and then, you know, third I think is just flexibility. I think — and is 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 is where I try and orient it more to agility. How can we approaches and principles and be committed to things, but also know when question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you a few examples of ways that you at Vimeo have tried to really be proactive when it comes addressing 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 place 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, many organizations, the way we’ve tried to listen and understand our workforce very similar: it’s Q and As and engagement surveys, and things like that. And of the things that we’ve done, we have a and culture NPS, net promoter score, the same way we for our users, for our internal teams. But I would one of the things that we’ve really tried to do is appreciate that when 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 an obvious “Oh, is how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when you really dig into it truly listen and do focus groups and talk to people — what you’ll find is actually there’s different experiences and desires among your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve really just tried do is 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 this thing as action.” And it’s hard, and we’re still kind of it out, but I will tell you, some of things that we’ve heard from employees have changed our approach to hybrid work travel or even things like our approach to compensation or our approach to and I. So I think it’s more just like I said, 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 because we have 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” global approach in the name of and fairness, and what we found is we have to be more localized. We really do. have to design mechanisms to support our teams in very different way, because their experiences and the world around them quite different.
So I think that’s definitely been one, and will tell you, it has involved a lot of — as an team and leadership team — it’s involved a lot of things, it not working, and changing them. And a great example is Q and A. I feel like every leader I know has a perspective on whether they do open and A or anonymous Q and A, or real-time Q and A. We’ve our approach there multiple times, and I know we will again, because we’re still out the right way to listen and have a dialogue with a very workforce.
SM: I want to stay on newcomers to the for just another moment, because another thing I hear from CEOs of my generation and is a concern about making sure that we are not just providing youngest employees with the flexibility and the purpose that need, but also the training and the wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from being in proximity to a mentor or to somebody who’s done the job for more years. What is your philosophy and take on making that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s major challenge that I don’t know that everyone will sort have a solution for. I think about that all the time. We have a very distributed workforce Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My team is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits 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 lack of same kinds of 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 my entire executive is distributed, that means I have to learn how to real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a whole set of new who have just joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team almost entirely in the last months. So I’ve had to deal with the same challenges. And we’ve had literally — we call it our operating system — we’ve had to design an operating system, an executive team, for how we’re going to work together in environment. How do we share real-time feedback? How do we the right communication loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more have to be able to do it ourselves and model it and then, I think it’s a proven mechanism for young people. I will say, like many companies … I do believe in-person collaboration is really important for learning. We do have — we bring people into office. If you’re remote, we ask folks to come in and time in a room with their team, do social activities, all of things. I don’t think they will go away, nor do I they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an area that don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly and I think it’s really critical as leaders, we do that, so that this next generation is able to get the same opportunities that we all had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the tools that you at the very beginning of our conversation, around video, can really helpful there. I’ve heard of a number of organizations that have encouraged their young people to present, as a way of having to out and find the information they need. And then, because have video tools available to us now, you know, they have opportunity to share their ideas with a large group people, but first, kind of going through the fact-finding the research, and 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. During the Black Lives Matter protests, we had lot of people coming to the office feeling trauma, and feeling really issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering if you can share a bit about how 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 is to empower our to do their best work. And so, of course, we have a real role to play supporting things like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, the way think, like many companies, the way we initially probably to do that was more, you know, you’re seeing a problem you’re reacting by trying to provide mental-health resources or support or time off. And, I think — empathy, just empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, to many of our managers … just care. If we just care, a lot of get easier. You don’t have to design a hundred mechanisms if you just have the right people in who care. At the same time, I will say we’re realizing now, in sort of this next phase, is that that’s reactive approach and actually the root cause — that we can control at Vimeo — root cause of a lot of stress and burnout is people either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking to do too many things or they don’t feel like they’re in doing those things. And that, I think, is actually where we should be spending time — is how do we actually set the prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s a 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 get the “What is the detail there, and do we to do things differently?” And, you know, one of themes at Vimeo this year was “Do less, better.”
SM: As economy starts to, maybe, move sideways, do you think that are going to be stakeholders who say, you know, “Out all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are my results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has already swung pretty clearly. mean, I work in SAS, software as a service, so we went from “growth at all cost” to “profitability,” you know, swing. My perspective on this — and 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 will better results. And so, you know, for me, I think what 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 pressured. And that’s not going to be sustainable. But that’s not what — ultimately, that’s not what need, in any case. So, you know, I sort of see as — the way you channel how you are caring towards your employees and how you are empathetic, should be in service of helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, will be good for the bottom line. And you have to believe that. You have to be to that and if you use that consistently in your decision-making, it not be a trade-off. These are not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have been taking care of yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, also growth? You mentioned you just had a 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 — recently, the phrase I use a lot to myself is “two things can true, both can be true.” I say this a lot. 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 been tremendous. know, we’re obviously going through a ton with post-pandemic, have a team in Ukraine going through a war — all things that have happened. And so, it’s a hard job, and it’s an privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, I think me, it’s sort of acknowledging both of those things has helped me lot. The way I’ve tried to kind of lead, has been — it’s always been way, which is, for me, it’s I have to have passion. have to have passion. I have to believe so that what Vimeo is doing is important and matters for world. And if I have passion, I have energy and then I — I can kind of move through anything. I have to find in my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look back my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work were — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because brought a group of people together all on one team, and I think that’s been, you know, a really big part of it. then, yeah, like, you have to be a little selfish sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I really fortunate. I think I have a great support network around me and I do … husband and I have a deal, where on Sundays, disappear for a couple of hours. I just disappear and I walk around the city and I listen my music and do whatever I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: you talked about how hybrid work is going to look very in the future than how we describe it today. It’s basically 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 to be people are going to want to work anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the concept of you’re located is going to change. And then the idea of “I’m going to work on this time zone” or “I’m to attend this meeting that’s scheduled on this date” — I that’s going to go away. And I think what you’re going to find is more and more work, from 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 at scale among many people, anywhere in the world. then I think leadership, leaders are going to look different. Because I think it’s to require — if you think about the skill set be a global CEO 30 years ago versus what will require now — I think in the future … the skill is going to be like, “How do you communicate with diverse, audiences and employees across time zones in a way that is effective, that provides and alignment at scale? How do you organize programs, it’s compensation, whether it’s, you know, training?” All of that is to look very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is … there were these constraints that we’ve lived with, whether it was or place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints going to go away. And the promise is that we are flexible and smart and we use technology in right way, that we’ll actually come away a much evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, I think you just showed us some of the passion that you’ve about as being the thing that gives you energy to lead that of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much for being here today.
AS: you. This was great.