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 worldwide — you have creatives, you have people, you have technologists. So I’m going to start with really easy question: what was it like to manage this diverse through a global pandemic, a racial reckoning and a fraught return to office?
AS: Oh, it was a breeze, Stephanie. No, was really challenging. You know, I think the only has been change. And as a leader, you obviously — have a workforce that’s looking for certainty, and they’re to control what’s happening around them. And I think what we found, as leaders, no matter what company you were … responsible for, was you couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always control the and the things around you. And so, you know, me, it was really about agility. How do we stay as a team? How do we communicate in real time and keep informed as we try and move through things? And then, also just how do we with more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one of the I’ve really learned over the last few years is we experience the world so differently. We have employees who remote. We have an incredible team in Ukraine … employees who are the front lines, who are literally at war. On the other hand, you have people in parts of the world who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, so I think 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 for everyone. But I ultimately think forced us, as a company, to build more trust, because to be agile and flexible, and to with humanity, you have 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 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 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 when you communicate. And we did make a concerted effort move away from email and chat, text-based communication, as as possible, and actually try, particularly for our leadership team, we were communicating, to do it with your face, and your hands and your body your emotions. And we did that through live streaming lot of communications, recording a lot of videos. We sent video messages. So I send … I record my screen and just a note out to people. Every new hire does a video welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced with just quick video presentations. actually, what that really did was allow the humanity and the context to come and I think that helped us a lot to, 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 talk about things aren’t working, because a critical part of being is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. And so one the things that we do at Vimeo is we try — do this in all of my town halls, we do it a lot of meetings — is always talk about what’s working, are our top three things, and what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind created, I think, a framework that sort of takes the stigma away from talking what’s not working. And when you make that normalized and comfortable for people, I feel like it’s us to be more open, as an organization, about what do we need to change, do 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 something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love that advice about video-first. So many of our members of our workforce in a video world. They’re used to video as means of communication. Which brings me to my next question. You’ve talked about the organization has changed. How do you see the workforce changing? What is different with the young millennials, even, now, the first wave of Gen Z coming into workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, one of the things that we think at Vimeo a lot is a lot of the and communication modes that we still use today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed a totally different environment and a totally different generation. But I see a lot differences. One of them, I think, is the line your personal life and work life is definitely blending. … If you think your personal life — look at TikTok. This generation is used consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. And they then have to come to work and to trained on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not going 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 words saying the way … we communicate and interact in our personal lives going to translate to work. And so I definitely think that’s an area opportunity.
The other thing I see from sort of generation, the newest generation coming into the workforce, is sort of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s desire to really understand the “why” behind things. And one of our communication mantras is never talk about the “what” without the “why.” And I there’s a desire to — the idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, “My boss told me that this is what we’re going do” or — that, I think, is increasingly moving away, people, they don’t just want to do something because someone with authority told them to do it. They want to it because they understand why it matters, why it ties to the mission. And think that that forces leaders to really bring more of the “why” into how communicate and motivate people.
So those are two of the things see, and then, you know, the third I think is just flexibility. I think — this is true of all of us, but particularly the younger — I think they’re looking for flexibility and they want options and choices. And it’s not easy and feasible to provide ultimate flexibility, but this is where I try and it more to agility. How can we have approaches principles and be committed to things, but also know to question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share a examples of ways that you at Vimeo have tried to really proactive when it comes to addressing or understanding what your next generation of employees are going to want, in terms of purpose or in terms of benefits or in terms flexibility? Are there programs or processes you’ve put in place that really speak to this sea change we’re seeing in terms of values from workforce?
AS: Firstly, of 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 of the things we’ve done, we have a people and culture NPS, net promoter score, the same way have for our users, for our internal teams. But I would say 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, this how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when you really dig into it and truly 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 tried to do is have a bunch of different listening and then resist the urge to conveniently pull, like, “Oh, this what everyone’s feeling, let’s just do this thing as the action.” And it’s hard, and we’re kind of figuring it out, but I will tell you, some of the things we’ve heard from employees have changed our approach to hybrid work or travel or even like our approach to compensation or our approach to and I. So I think it’s more just like said, that agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, not treating everything as, like, an average or the same. And us, it’s been particularly stark because we have offices and teams in so different countries and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, about the we solve different things. And we used to have very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the name of consistency and fairness, and what found is we have to be more localized. We really do. We have to design mechanisms support our teams in a very different way, because their and the world around them is quite different.
So think that’s definitely been one, and I will tell you, it has involved a lot — as an executive team and leadership team — it’s 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 multiple times, and I know we will again, because we’re figuring out the right way to listen and have a dialogue with very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on newcomers to the workplace for another moment, because another thing I hear from CEOs of my generation and older is a concern making sure that 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 close proximity to a mentor or to somebody who’s done the job for many more years. What is philosophy and take on making sure that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I it’s a major challenge that I don’t know that everyone will of have a solution for. I think about that the time. We have a very distributed workforce at Vimeo. have people in over eight countries. My executive team entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits of able to have a distributed workforce and being able 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 approaches that we’ve been taking, and what’s sort of nice, we’re modeling it at the top. So if my entire team is distributed, that means I have to learn to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a set of new executives who have just joined. We have sort of changed up the team almost entirely in the last twelve months. So I’ve had to deal with the same challenges. we’ve had to literally — we call it our operating system — we’ve had to an operating system, as an executive team, for how we’re going to work in that environment. How do we share real-time feedback? How do we create the communication loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more we have to able to do it ourselves and model it and then, I it’s a more proven mechanism for young people. I will say, like many companies … do believe that in-person collaboration is really important for learning. do have — we bring people into an office. you’re remote, we 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 will go away, do I think they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s area that I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly and I it’s really critical that as leaders, we do that, so that this next generation is able get the same growth 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 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 have video tools available to us now, you know, they an opportunity to share their ideas with a large group 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 mental illness and the different things that people are to work, whether it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Black Matter protests, we had a lot of people coming to the office trauma, and feeling really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m if you can share a little bit about how you with this increasing personal — you know, when people bring their selves to the office, which we encourage, sometimes, they bring things, parts of themselves that challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve always thought the responsibility of a leader to empower people to do their best work and responsibility of a company is to empower our people to their best work. And so, of course, we have a real role play in supporting things like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, the way think, like many companies, the way we initially probably sought to do that was more, you know, you’re a problem and you’re reacting by trying to provide mental-health resources or support or time off. And, think — and empathy, just empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, to many of our managers … just care. If we care, a lot of things get easier. You don’t have to design a hundred if you just have the right people in place care. At the same time, I will say what we’re realizing now, in sort of this next phase, is that’s a reactive approach and actually the root cause — that we can control at Vimeo — the root of a lot of stress and burnout is sometimes either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking people 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 more — is how do we actually set the right prioritization focus. There’s some 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 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 our at Vimeo this year was “Do less, better.”
SM: As economy starts to, maybe, move sideways, do you think that there are going be stakeholders who say, you know, “Out with all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where my results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has swung pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, as a service, so we already went from “growth at cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My perspective this — and it hasn’t changed — I think the best leaders and cultures results and treat people well. And I actually think, if you treat people well, kindness and empathy, you will 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 times when companies, we did things because maybe it was service 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 of see it as — the way you channel how you are caring towards employees and how you are empathetic, always should be service of helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, which 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 not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you taking care of yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, but also growth? mentioned you just had a baby. There’s a lot on shoulders. How, as a leader, do you practice some self-care or do you 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 can be true, both can be true.” I say this a lot. And for me, I think of as, like, “This job is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We went public at the of the pandemic and last year, market volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously through a ton 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 kind of lead, has been — it’s always been way, which is, for me, it’s I have to passion. I have to have passion. I have to believe deeply that what Vimeo is doing is important and matters for the world. if I have passion, I have energy and then I will — can kind of move through anything. I have to joy in my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look at my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work were when — the hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought a group of people together all one team, and so I think that’s been, you know, a really big part it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be a little selfish sometimes, and take of yourself. And I am really fortunate. I think have a great support network around me and I … My husband and I have a deal, where on Sundays, I for a couple of hours. I just disappear and I walk the city and I listen to my music and do I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you about how hybrid work is going to look very different in future 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: I the idea of an office as a time and place completely goes away. And think it’s really going to be people are going to to work from anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the of where you’re located is going to change. And the idea of like “I’m going to work on this time zone” or “I’m going to attend 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 more work, particularly from knowledge workers, is going to done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration will happen asynchronously and we will be using and technology — whether it’s video, whether it’s AI — to enable that at scale among many people, anywhere in the world. And then I leadership, leaders are going to look different. Because I think it’s going to — if you think about the skill set to be global CEO 30 years ago versus what that will require now — I in the future … the skill set is going to be like, “How do 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, whether it’s, you know, training?” All of that going to look very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … there were these that we’ve lived with, whether it was time or or budget, in some cases. And I think those are going to go away. And the promise is that if we are flexible smart and we use technology in the right way, that we’ll come away a much more evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, I think you showed us some of the passion that you’ve talked about being the thing that gives you energy to lead that organization 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much for being today.
AS: Thank you. This was great.