Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m glad you’re here with us today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, is great to be here.
SM: At Vimeo, you lead a workforce 1,300 people worldwide — you have creatives, you have finance people, you have technologists. So I’m going start with a really easy question: what was it like to 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. You know, think the only constant 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 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 the things around you. And so, you know, for me, was really about agility. How do we stay flexible as a team? How do we communicate 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 really over the last few years is we each experience the world so differently. have employees who are remote. We have an incredible in Ukraine … employees who are on the front lines, who are literally at war. the other hand, you have people in different parts of the who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, and so I think it really just — the hardest part was not being able to give everyone certainty, not able to just apply a one-size-fits-all rule for everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, a company, to build more trust, because to be agile and flexible, and to lead humanity, you have to trust each other. And so, I’m sort optimistic that actually we’re emerging from this time with culture that is more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, has trust.
SM: Can you give an example of something that put into place, perhaps during the pandemic, to enhance communications or trust or create a greater sense of community or even communicate that there is no certainty, that is a muscle that you think you’ll continue to use in organization far into the future?
AS: There’s a couple of things that did. One — and we are a video platform, so I obviously to talk about video, but I mean this sincerely — of the hardest parts, when you’re all sort of disparate, is you lose context and you lose nuance you communicate. And we did make a concerted effort to move away from and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, and actually try, particularly for our leadership team, we were communicating, to do it with your face, and your hands your body and your emotions. And we did that through live streaming lot of communications, recording a lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I send … record my screen and just send a note out to people. Every new hire does a video to and introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve replaced with just quick video presentations. And actually, what really did was allow the humanity and the context to come through and I think that helped us lot to, kind of, stay close. So that was one, I think, really thing.
Another important thing is, I think, just creating mechanisms to it easier to talk about when things aren’t working, because a part of being agile is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. And so of the things that we do at Vimeo is we try — do this in all of my town halls, we do in 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 kind of created, think, a framework that sort of takes the stigma from talking about what’s not working. And when you make that normalized and comfortable for people, I feel it’s allowed 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 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 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, even, now, the first wave of Gen Z coming the workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, one of the things that we about at Vimeo a lot is a lot of the mechanisms and communication modes that we still today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed for a totally different environment and totally different generation. But I see a lot of differences. of them, I think, is the line between your personal life work life 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. And if they then have to to work and to be 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 watch the Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s just not going happen. And so I think that there is definitely sort of this — you know, we talk the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are just fancy words for saying the … we communicate and interact in our personal lives is going to 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 the workforce, sort of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s a desire really understand the “why” behind things. And one of our communication is we never talk about the “what” without the “why.” And I think there’s desire to — the idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, or “My boss told me that is what we’re going to do” or — that, I think, increasingly moving away, and people, they don’t just want to do something because someone with formal told them to do it. They want to do it they understand why it matters, why it ties to the mission. And 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 — this is true of all of us, but particularly the younger generation — think they’re looking for flexibility and they want options choices. And it’s not always easy and feasible to ultimate flexibility, but this is where I try and orient more to agility. How can we have approaches and principles be committed to things, but also know when to question, and to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share a few examples of ways that you Vimeo have tried to really be proactive when it comes to addressing or understanding your next generation of employees are going to want, either in terms of or in terms of 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 in terms of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all about listening, right? And 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, things like that. And some of the things that we’ve done, have a people and culture NPS, net promoter score, same way we have for our users, for our internal teams. But I say one of the things that we’ve really tried to do is appreciate that 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 out an obvious “Oh, this is how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when 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 urge to conveniently pull, like, “Oh, this is what everyone’s feeling, let’s just do 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 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, constantly really what’s happening, but not treating everything as, like, an average or the same. And for us, it’s been stark because we have offices and teams in so different countries and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, the way we solve different things. And we used have a very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the name consistency and fairness, and what we found is we have to more localized. We really do. We have to design 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, has involved a lot of — as an executive team and leadership team — it’s involved a lot trying things, it not working, and changing them. And great example is our Q and A. I feel every leader I know has a perspective on whether they do open and A or anonymous Q and A, or real-time and A. We’ve changed our approach there multiple times, and I we will again, because we’re still figuring out the right way to listen and have dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on newcomers to workplace for just another moment, because another thing I from CEOs of my generation and older is a concern about making sure that we not just providing our youngest employees with the flexibility the purpose that they need, but also the training 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 knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s a major challenge I don’t know that everyone will sort of have a for. I think about that all the time. We have very distributed workforce at Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My team is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits of able to have a distributed workforce and being able to attract talent just be more inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, think, a lack of the same kinds of learning opportunities and mentorship, for the youngest folks that are entering the workforce. So I think it’s a challenge. of the approaches that we’ve been taking, and what’s sort of nice, we’re modeling it at the top. So if my entire executive team is distributed, means I have to learn how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development a whole set of new executives who have just joined. We have sort of changed up executive team almost entirely in the last twelve months. I’ve had to deal with the same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — call it our operating system — we’ve had to an operating system, as an executive team, for how we’re to work together in that environment. How do we share real-time feedback? How do we create right communication loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more we have to be able do it ourselves and model it and then, I think it’s a more mechanism for young people. I will say, like many companies … I do believe that in-person is really important for learning. We do have — bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we ask to come in and spend time in a room their team, do social activities, all of those things. I don’t they will go away, nor do I think they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an that I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly I think it’s really critical that as leaders, we that, so that this next generation is able to get the growth opportunities that we all had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — tools that you mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, video, can be really helpful there. I’ve heard of a number organizations that have really encouraged their young people to present, as way of having to go out and find the information they need. then, because we have video tools available to us now, know, they have an opportunity to share their ideas a large group of people, but first, kind of through the fact-finding and the research, and then sharing ideas. In an earlier comment, you talked a little bit mental illness and the different things that people are bringing work, whether it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Black Lives Matter protests, had a lot of people coming to the office feeling trauma, feeling really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering you can share a little bit about how you deal with increasing personal — you know, when people bring their whole selves to the office, which encourage, sometimes, they bring things, parts of themselves that challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve always thought the responsibility of leader is to empower people to do their best work and the responsibility a company is 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 or burnout. And, you know, the way I think, like many companies, the way we initially probably to do that was more, you know, you’re seeing a problem and you’re reacting by trying to mental-health resources or support or time off. And, I — and empathy, just empathy. I think that’s really important. And always say, to so many of our managers … care. If we just care, a lot of things easier. You don’t have to design a hundred mechanisms if just have the right people in place who care. At the same time, I say what we’re realizing now, in sort of this phase, is that that’s a reactive approach and actually the root — that we can control at Vimeo — the root cause of a lot of and burnout is sometimes people either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking people to do too many or they don’t feel like they’re supported in doing those things. And that, I think, is where we should be spending more time — is how do we actually set the prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s a root cause that’s a “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 into “What is the detail there, and do we need to do things differently?” And, you know, one our themes at Vimeo this year was “Do less, better.”
SM: As the economy 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. are my results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has swung pretty 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 best leaders cultures deliver results and treat people well. And I actually think, if you treat people well, with kindness empathy, you will get better results. And so, you know, for me, think what I observed over the last few years — that part, I think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, lot of 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 what people need, in case. So, you know, I sort of see it as — way you channel how you are caring towards your employees how you are empathetic, always should be in service helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, which will be good for the bottom line. you have to believe that. You have to be committed to and if you use that consistently in your decision-making, should not be a trade-off. These are not mutually things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been taking care yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, but growth? You mentioned you just had a baby. There’s a lot your shoulders. How, as a leader, do you practice some self-care how do you 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 “two things can be true, both can be true.” say this a lot. And for me, I 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. know, we’re obviously going through a ton with post-pandemic, we have a 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, been — it’s always been this way, which is, for me, it’s have to have passion. I have to have passion. I have believe so deeply that what Vimeo is doing is important and matters for world. And if I have passion, I have energy then I will — I can kind of move through anything. I have to joy in my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I back at my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times work were when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought a group of people all on one team, and so I think that’s been, know, a really big part of it. And then, yeah, like, have to be a little selfish sometimes, and take of yourself. And I am really fortunate. I think I have a great support around me and I do … My husband and have 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 talked about how hybrid work is going look very different in the future than how we describe it today. It’s basically office a couple of days, work from home a couple other days. Tell us a little bit more about what you could see that evolving into.
AS: I think the idea of an office as a time place completely goes away. And I think it’s really going be people are going to want to work from anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the concept of 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 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, particularly knowledge workers, is going to be done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration will happen and we will be using tools and technology — whether it’s video, whether it’s AI — basically enable that at scale among many people, anywhere in the world. then I think leadership, leaders are going to look different. Because I think it’s going to require — if think about the skill set to be a global CEO 30 years ago versus what that require now — I think in the future … the skill set going to be like, “How do you communicate with diverse, audiences and employees across time zones in a way that is effective, provides context and alignment at scale? How do you programs, whether it’s compensation, whether it’s, you know, training?” All of that is going to look very different. I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … there these constraints that we’ve lived with, whether it was time place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints are to go away. And the promise is that if we are flexible and and we use technology in the right way, that we’ll actually come away a much more evolved and 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 lead that organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank so much for being here today.
AS: Thank you. was great.