Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m so glad you’re here us today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, it is great be here.
SM: At Vimeo, you lead a workforce 1,300 people worldwide — you have creatives, you have people, you have technologists. So I’m going to start a really easy question: what was it like to manage diverse workforce through a global pandemic, a racial reckoning and a very return to office?
AS: Oh, it 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 that’s looking for certainty, and they’re looking to control what’s happening around them. And I think what all found, as leaders, no matter what company you were … responsible for, was that couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always control the environment and the around you. And so, you know, for me, it was really agility. How do we stay flexible as a team? How we communicate in real time and keep people informed as we try and move through things? then, also just how do we lead with more humanity? You know, Vimeo, one of the things I’ve really learned over the last years is we 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, are literally at war. On the other hand, you people in different parts of the world who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, and so think it was really 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 be agile and flexible, and to with humanity, you have to trust each other. And so, I’m sort of optimistic that we’re emerging from this time with a culture that is flexible and nimble, and 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 or create a greater sense of community or even to communicate that there is 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 are a platform, so I obviously have to talk about video, I mean this sincerely — one of the hardest parts, when you’re all of disparate, is you lose context and you lose nuance when you communicate. And we make a concerted effort to move away from email and chat, text-based communication, much as possible, and actually try, particularly for our leadership team, when we were communicating, do it with your face, and your hands and your body and your emotions. we did that through live streaming a lot of communications, a lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I send … record my screen and just send a note out to people. new hire does a video to welcome and introduce themselves. lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced with just video presentations. And actually, what that really did was allow humanity and the context to come through and I think helped us a lot to, kind of, stay close. that was one, I think, really important thing.
Another thing is, I think, just creating mechanisms to make it easier talk about when things aren’t working, because a critical part being agile is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. so one of the things that we do at is we try — I do this in all of town halls, we do it in a lot of meetings — is always talk about what’s working, what our top three things, and what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind of created, I think, a framework that of takes the stigma away from talking about what’s not working. And when you make that and comfortable for people, I feel like it’s allowed to be more open, as an organization, about what do we need to change, what do we need pivot. And both of those, being more video-first in our communication being more transparent and normalizing what’s not working, I think has been helpful, and certainly something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love advice about being video-first. So many of our members of our live in a video world. They’re used to video a means of communication. Which brings me to my next question. You’ve about how the organization has changed. How do you see the 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 different. And, you know, one of the things that think 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 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 way. And if they then have to come to work to be trained on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s going 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 going to happen. And I think that there is definitely sort of this — know, we talk about the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those just fancy words for saying the way … we and interact in our personal lives is going to translate to work. And I definitely think that’s an area of opportunity.
The thing I see from sort of the generation, the generation coming into the workforce, is sort of, of mission-driven, but I think there’s a desire to really understand “why” behind things. And one of our communication mantras is we never about 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 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. want to do it because they understand why it matters, why it ties to mission. And I think that that forces leaders to really more of the “why” into how we communicate and motivate people.
So are two of the things I see, and then, you know, the I think is just flexibility. I think — and is true of all of us, but particularly the younger generation — think they’re looking for flexibility and they want options and choices. And it’s not always easy and feasible to provide flexibility, but this is where I try and orient it more agility. How can we have approaches and principles and committed to things, but also know when to question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, you share a few examples of ways that you at have tried to really be proactive when it comes to addressing or what 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 put place that really speak to this big sea change we’re seeing terms of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all about listening, right? And I think, like organizations, the way we’ve tried to listen and understand our workforce is very similar: it’s Q As and engagement surveys, and things like that. And some the things that we’ve done, we have a people culture NPS, net promoter score, the same way we have for our users, for our internal teams. But would say one of the things that we’ve really to do is appreciate that when we get inputs from our employees, 1,300 employees … you can’t look the averages. You can’t look at it all in and try and pull out an obvious “Oh, this is how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — you really dig into it and truly listen and focus groups and talk to people — what you’ll find actually there’s very different experiences and desires among your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve 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 do this thing as the action.” And it’s hard, and we’re still kind of figuring it out, I 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 our approach to DE and I. So I think it’s more just like I said, that agile listening, constantly understanding what’s happening, but not treating everything as, like, an average or same. And for us, it’s been particularly stark because we have offices and in so many 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 the name of consistency and fairness, and what we found is we have be more localized. We really do. We have to design mechanisms to support our teams in a different way, because 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 a lot of — an executive team and leadership team — it’s involved a lot of things, it not working, and changing them. And a great is our Q and A. I feel like every I know has a perspective on whether they do open and A or anonymous Q and A, or real-time Q A. We’ve changed our approach there multiple times, and know we will again, because we’re still figuring out the right way to listen and a dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on newcomers the workplace for just another moment, because another thing I hear from CEOs of my generation older is a concern about making sure that we are not just providing youngest employees with the flexibility and the purpose that they need, but also the training and the that comes, oftentimes, from being in close proximity to mentor or to somebody who’s done the job for more years. What is your philosophy and take on making sure knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s a major that I don’t know that everyone will sort of have a for. I think about that all the time. We have a very distributed workforce at Vimeo. have people in over eight countries. My executive team is distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits of being able to have a distributed and being able to attract talent and just be inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, I think, a lack the same kinds of learning opportunities and mentorship, particularly 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 of nice, is we’re modeling it at the top. So my entire executive team is distributed, that means I have to learn how to provide real-time feedback, and development for a whole set of new executives 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 to design an operating system, as an executive team, how we’re going to work together in that environment. How 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 be 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 … I do believe in-person collaboration is really important for learning. We do have — bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we ask folks to come in and time in a room with their team, do social activities, all those things. I don’t think they will go away, nor I think 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 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, around video, can be really 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 an opportunity to share their ideas with a large group of people, first, kind of going through the fact-finding and the research, and sharing their ideas. In an earlier comment, you talked a little bit about mental illness and different things that people are bringing to work, whether 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 this increasing personal — you know, when people bring whole selves to the office, which we encourage, sometimes, bring things, parts of themselves that are challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve thought the responsibility of a leader is to empower to do their best work and the responsibility of a company is to empower our people do their best work. And so, of course, we have a role to play in supporting things like mental-health issues burnout. And, you know, the way I think, like many companies, 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 or support or time off. And, I think — and empathy, just empathy. think that’s really 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 design a hundred mechanisms you just have the right people in place who care. the same time, I will say what we’re realizing now, in sort this next phase, is that that’s a reactive approach and actually the root — 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 to too many things or they don’t feel like they’re in doing those things. And that, I think, is where we should be spending more time — is how do we actually set right prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s a cause there that’s a “Oh, I feel like I’m stressed because there’s too much going on. I don’t equipped to solve it.” Then, we should get into “What is the detail there, and do we need to do things differently?” And, know, one of our themes at Vimeo this year was “Do less, better.”
SM: the economy starts to, maybe, move sideways, do you think there are going to be stakeholders who say, you know, “Out all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has already swung pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, as a service, so we already went from “growth all cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My on this — and it hasn’t changed — I the best leaders and cultures deliver results and treat people well. And I think, if you treat people well, with kindness and empathy, will get better results. And so, you know, for me, think what I observed over the last few years is — part, I think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, a lot times when companies, we did things because maybe it lip service or we felt pressured. And that’s not going be sustainable. But that’s not what — ultimately, that’s not people need, in any case. So, you know, I sort see it as — the way you channel how you are caring towards your and how you are empathetic, always should be in service of helping people their best work, which will deliver results, which will good for the bottom line. And you have to believe that. have to be committed to that and if you use that consistently in your decision-making, should not be a trade-off. These are not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how you been taking care of yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, but growth? You 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 be the most effective leader 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 job hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We went public at the height of the pandemic and last year, volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a ton post-pandemic, we have a team in Ukraine going through a war — all these that have happened. And so, it’s a hard job, it’s an incredibly privileged job. It’s a gift, right? so, I think for me, it’s sort of acknowledging both of things has helped me a lot. The way I’ve tried to kind of lead, has been — it’s been this way, which is, for me, it’s I have have passion. I have to have passion. I have to believe so deeply what Vimeo is doing is important and matters for the world. And if I have passion, I have energy and I will — I can kind of move through anything. I have find joy 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 when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s it brought a group of people together all on 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, take care of yourself. And I am really fortunate. I think I have great support network around me and I do … husband and I have a deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for a couple hours. I just disappear and I walk around the city and I listen to my music and whatever I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you talked about how work is going to look very different in the future than how we it today. It’s basically in office a couple of days, work home a couple of other days. Tell us a bit more about what you could potentially see that into.
AS: I think the idea of an office as a time and place completely goes away. I think it’s really going to be people are going to want to from anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the concept where you’re located is going to change. And then idea of 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 going go away. And I think what you’re going to find more and more work, particularly from knowledge workers, is going to be done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration happen asynchronously 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 — if you think about the skill set to a global CEO 30 years ago versus what that require now — I think in the future … the skill is going to be like, “How do you communicate with diverse, global audiences and employees across time in a 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 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 was time or place or budget, in some cases. I think those constraints are going to go away. And the is that if we are flexible and smart and we technology in the right way, that we’ll actually come 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.