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 a workforce of 1,300 people worldwide — you have creatives, you finance people, you have technologists. So I’m going to start with a easy question: what was it like to manage this diverse workforce through a pandemic, a racial reckoning and a very fraught return office?
AS: Oh, it was a breeze, Stephanie. No, it really challenging. You know, I think the only constant has change. And as a leader, you obviously — you have a that’s looking for certainty, and they’re looking to control what’s happening around them. I think what we all found, as leaders, no what company you were … responsible for, was that you couldn’t offer certainty, you couldn’t always control the environment and the things around you. And so, you know, me, it was really about agility. How do we stay flexible as team? How do we communicate in real time and people informed as we try and move through things? And then, also how do we lead with more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one of things I’ve really learned over the last few years is we experience the world so differently. We have employees who are remote. We an incredible team in Ukraine … employees who are on the lines, who are literally at 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 really just — the hardest part was not being to give everyone certainty, not being able to just apply one-size-fits-all rule for everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, a company, to build more trust, because to be and flexible, and to lead with humanity, you have trust each other. And so, I’m sort of optimistic that actually we’re emerging from this with a culture that is more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, more trust.
SM: Can you give an example of something that you put into place, perhaps the pandemic, to enhance communications or build trust or create a sense of community or even to communicate that there is no certainty, is a muscle that you think you’ll continue to use in organization far into the future?
AS: There’s a couple of that we did. One — and we are a video platform, I obviously have to talk about video, but I this sincerely — one of the hardest parts, when you’re all of disparate, is you lose context and you lose nuance when you communicate. we did make a concerted effort to move away from 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, and your hands and body and your emotions. And we did that through live streaming a lot communications, recording a lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I send … I record screen and just send a note out to people. Every new hire does a video to welcome introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced with quick video presentations. And actually, what that really did was allow the humanity and the context to through and I think that 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 easier to talk about when things aren’t working, because critical part of being agile is recognizing we have area that isn’t working. And so one of the things that we at Vimeo is we try — I do this in all my town halls, we do it in a lot 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 that sort of takes the stigma away from talking about what’s not working. And when make that normalized and comfortable for people, I feel it’s allowed us to be more open, as an organization, about what do need to change, what do we need to pivot. And of those, being more video-first in our communication and being more transparent and normalizing what’s working, I think has been really helpful, and certainly something we’re carrying forward.
SM: love that advice about being video-first. So many of our of our workforce live in a video world. They’re to video as a means of communication. Which brings me to my next question. You’ve talked about how organization has changed. How do you see the workforce changing? What is different the young millennials, and even, now, the first wave of Gen Z coming into the workplace?
AS: think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, one of the things that we think about at Vimeo a is a lot of the mechanisms and communication modes that we use today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed for a totally different environment and a different generation. But I see a lot of differences. One of them, I think, the line between your personal life and work life definitely blending. … If you think about your personal life — look TikTok. This generation is used to consuming content, learning, engaging, in very specific way. And if they then have to come to work and to be on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not going to happen, right? if you miss the meeting, and you have to watch the Zoom recording of a three-hour — that’s just not going to happen. And so I that there is definitely sort of this — you know, we talk the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are just 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 the generation, the newest coming into the workforce, is sort of, of course mission-driven, but think there’s a desire to really understand the “why” behind things. And of our communication mantras is we never talk about the “what” without the “why.” And I think there’s a 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, is increasingly moving away, and people, 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 I think that forces leaders to really bring more of the “why” into how we communicate and motivate people.
So those two of the things I see, and then, you know, the third I is just flexibility. I think — and this is true of of us, but particularly the younger generation — I they’re looking for flexibility and they want options and choices. And it’s not always easy feasible to provide ultimate flexibility, but this is where I try and it more to agility. How can we have approaches and principles and be committed things, but also know when to question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, you share a few examples of ways that you Vimeo have tried to really be proactive when it to addressing or understanding what your next generation of employees going to want, either in terms of purpose or terms of benefits or in terms of flexibility? Are programs or processes you’ve put in place that really speak to big sea change we’re seeing in terms of values from workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all about listening, right? And I think, many organizations, the way we’ve tried to listen and understand workforce is very similar: it’s Q and As and engagement surveys, and things like that. some of the things that we’ve done, we have a people and culture NPS, promoter score, the same way we have for our users, for our teams. But I would say one of the things that we’ve really to do is appreciate that when we get inputs from our employees, 1,300 … you can’t look at the averages. You can’t look it all in totality and try and pull out an obvious “Oh, this how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when you dig into it and truly listen and do focus groups and to people — what you’ll find is actually there’s very experiences and desires among your employees. And so, I for us, what we’ve really just tried to do is 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 this thing as the action.” it’s hard, and we’re still kind of 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 approach DE and I. So I think it’s more just like I said, agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not treating as, like, an average or the same. And for us, it’s been particularly stark we have offices 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 in the name of consistency and fairness, and what we is we have to be more localized. We really do. We have to design to support our teams in a very different way, because their experiences and the world around them quite different.
So I think that’s definitely been one, and I tell you, it has involved a lot of — an executive team and leadership team — it’s involved lot of trying things, it not working, and changing them. a great example is our Q and A. I feel like every leader know has a perspective on whether they do open Q and A or anonymous and A, or real-time Q and A. We’ve changed our there multiple times, and I know we will again, because we’re still out the right way to listen and have a with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on to the workplace for just another moment, because another thing hear from CEOs of my generation and older is a concern making sure that we are not just providing our youngest employees with flexibility and the purpose that they need, but also the training the wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from being in close proximity to a mentor or somebody who’s done the job for many more years. What is your philosophy and take on making sure that transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s a major challenge that I don’t know everyone will sort of have a solution for. I think 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 realized the benefits being able to have a distributed workforce and being able to talent and just be more inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, think, a lack of the same kinds of learning opportunities mentorship, particularly for the youngest folks that are entering the workforce. I think it’s a challenge. One of the approaches that we’ve taking, and what’s sort of nice, is we’re modeling at the top. So if my entire executive team is distributed, that means I have learn how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a whole set new executives who have just joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team almost entirely in the twelve months. So I’ve had to deal with the same challenges. And we’ve had to — 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 able to do ourselves and model it and then, I think it’s a more mechanism for young people. I will say, like many companies … I believe that in-person collaboration is really important for learning. do have — we bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we folks to come in and spend time in a room 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 that I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly I think it’s really critical that as leaders, we do that, that this next generation is able to get the growth opportunities that we all had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the tools you mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, video, can be 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 go out and find information they need. And then, because we have video available to us now, you know, they have an opportunity share their ideas with a large group of people, but first, of going through the fact-finding and the research, and then sharing their ideas. In an comment, you talked a little bit about mental illness and different things that people are bringing to work, whether it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. the Black Lives Matter protests, we had a lot of people coming to the feeling trauma, and feeling really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering if you share a little bit about how you deal with this increasing personal — you know, when bring their 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 to do their best work. And so, of course, have a real role to play in supporting things like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, the I think, like many companies, the way we initially probably sought to do that was more, know, you’re seeing a problem and you’re reacting by trying provide mental-health resources or support or time off. And, think — and empathy, just empathy. I think that’s really important. I always say, to so many of our managers … just care. If we just care, a lot things get easier. You don’t have to design a 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’s a reactive approach and actually the root cause — that we control at Vimeo — the root cause of a lot of stress and is sometimes 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 more — is how do we actually set the right prioritization and focus. There’s issue there, right? There’s a root cause there that’s a “Oh, I like I’m stressed because there’s too much going on. I don’t feel equipped to solve it.” Then, should get into the “What is the detail there, and do we need to do things differently?” And, know, one of our themes at Vimeo this year “Do less, better.”
SM: As the economy starts to, maybe, move sideways, do you think there are going to be stakeholders who say, you know, “Out with all this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are my results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has already pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, software as a service, so we already went from “growth all cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My perspective this — and it hasn’t changed — I think best leaders and cultures deliver results and treat people well. And I actually think, if you people well, with kindness and empathy, you will get results. And so, you know, for me, I think what I observed over the last years is — that part, I think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, lot of times when companies, we did things because it was lip service or we felt pressured. And that’s 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 it as — the way you channel you are caring towards your employees and how you are empathetic, always be in service of helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, which will good for the bottom line. And you have to that. You have to be committed to that and if use that consistently in your decision-making, it should not be a trade-off. These not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been taking care of yourself during period of tremendous turmoil and change, but also growth? You mentioned you had a baby. There’s a lot on your shoulders. How, as a leader, you practice some self-care or how do you make sure that you’re getting balance you need to be the most effective leader can be?
AS: I think — recently, the phrase I use a lot myself is “two things can be true, both can be true.” I say this lot. And for me, I think of it as, like, “This is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We went public at the height of the pandemic last year, market volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a ton with post-pandemic, we a team in Ukraine going through a war — all these things that happened. And so, it’s a hard job, and it’s an privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, I for me, it’s sort of acknowledging both of those has helped me a lot. The way I’ve tried kind of lead, has been — it’s always been this way, which is, for me, it’s I to have passion. I have to have passion. I have believe so deeply that what Vimeo is doing is important and matters the world. And if I have passion, I have energy then I will — I can kind of move through anything. I to find joy in my team. I feel like, in hard times, I look back at my career actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work were when — in hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought a of people together all on one team, and so I think that’s been, you know, a big part of it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be a little selfish sometimes, and care of yourself. And I am really fortunate. I think I have a great support network around and I do … My husband and I have deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for a couple hours. I just disappear and I walk around the city I listen to my music and do whatever I need to do, and that’s important.
SM: So you talked about how hybrid work is going to look very in the future than how we describe it today. It’s in office a couple of days, work from home couple of other days. Tell us a little bit about what you could potentially see that evolving into.
AS: think the idea of an office as a time 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 where you’re located is going to change. And the idea of like “I’m going to work on this zone” or “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s on this date” — I think that’s going to go away. And think what you’re going to find is more and more work, particularly from knowledge workers, is to be done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration will happen and we will be using tools and technology — whether it’s video, it’s AI — to basically enable that at scale among 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 30 years ago versus what that will require now — I in the future … the skill set is going to like, “How do you 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, it’s, you know, training?” All of that is going to very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll is just … there were these constraints that we’ve lived with, it was time or place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints are going to away. And the promise is that if we are and smart and we use technology in the right way, that we’ll actually come a much more evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, I think you just showed us some of the that you’ve talked about as being the thing that gives you energy to that organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much for being today.
AS: Thank you. This was great.