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