Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m glad you’re here with 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 finance people, you technologists. So I’m going to start with a really question: what was it like to manage 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, I think the only has been change. And as a leader, you obviously — you a workforce that’s looking for certainty, and they’re looking to what’s happening around them. And I think what we all found, as leaders, no matter company you were … responsible for, was that you couldn’t certainty, and you couldn’t always control the environment and things around you. And so, you know, for me, it really about agility. How do we stay flexible as team? How do we communicate in real time and keep people as we try and move through things? And then, just how do we lead 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, are literally at war. On the other hand, you have people different parts of the world who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, and so I think was really just — the hardest part was not being able to give everyone certainty, not being able just apply a one-size-fits-all rule for everyone. But I think it forced us, as a company, to build 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 actually we’re emerging from time with a culture that is more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, has more trust.
SM: Can you give example of something that you put into place, perhaps the pandemic, to enhance communications or build trust or a 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 of things that did. One — and we are a video platform, I obviously have to talk about video, but I mean this sincerely — one the hardest parts, when you’re all sort of disparate, you lose context and you lose nuance when you communicate. we did make a concerted effort to move away email and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, actually try, particularly for our leadership team, when we were communicating, to it with your face, and your hands and your body your emotions. And we did that through live streaming a lot communications, recording a lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So send … I record my screen and just send a note out people. Every new hire does a video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of meetings we’ve actually replaced with just quick 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. So that one, I think, really important thing.
Another important thing is, think, just creating mechanisms to make it easier to 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 Vimeo is we — I do this in all of my town halls, do it in a lot of meetings — is always about what’s working, what are our top three things, what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind of created, I think, a framework that sort of takes stigma away from talking about what’s not working. And when make that normalized and comfortable for people, I feel like it’s allowed us to be more open, an organization, about what do we need to change, do we need to pivot. And both of those, more 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 forward.
SM: I love that advice about being video-first. So many our members of 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 the workforce changing? What is different with the young millennials, and even, now, the first wave of Gen Z into the workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, of the things that we think about at Vimeo a lot a lot of the mechanisms and communication modes that we still use today, they’re really antiquated. They designed for a totally different environment and a totally different generation. But see a lot of differences. One of them, I think, is the between your personal life and work life is definitely blending. … If you think about your life — look at TikTok. This generation is used consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. And if then have to come to work and to be on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not to happen, right? Or if you miss the meeting, and you have to watch Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s just going to happen. And so I think that there definitely sort of this — you know, we talk about “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are just fancy words for saying the way … we communicate interact in our personal lives is going to translate to work. And so 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 to understand the “why” behind things. And one of our communication mantras is we never talk the “what” without the “why.” And I think there’s desire to — the idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, or “My told me that this is what we’re going to do” or — that, I think, is increasingly moving away, people, they don’t just want to do something because someone with formal told them to do it. They want to do it because they understand why matters, why it ties to the mission. And I think that that forces leaders really bring more of the “why” into how we and motivate people.
So those are two of the things I see, and then, you know, the third think is just flexibility. I think — and this is of all of us, but particularly the younger generation — I think they’re 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 to agility. How can have approaches and principles and be committed to things, but also know to question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share few examples of ways that you at Vimeo have to really be proactive when it comes to addressing or understanding what your next generation of are 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 this big sea we’re seeing in terms of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s about listening, right? And I think, like many organizations, the way we’ve to listen and understand our workforce is very similar: it’s Q and As and surveys, and things like that. And some of the things that we’ve done, we a people and culture NPS, net promoter score, the way we have for our users, for our internal teams. But I would one of the things that we’ve really tried to do is appreciate that when we get inputs our employees, 1,300 employees … you can’t look at the averages. can’t look at it all in totality and try and pull out obvious “Oh, this is how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — you really dig into it and truly listen and do focus and talk to people — what you’ll find is actually there’s very different experiences and among your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve really just tried to do is a bunch of different listening mechanisms and then resist the urge 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 of figuring out, but I will tell you, some of the things that we’ve heard from employees changed our approach to hybrid work or travel or things like our approach to compensation or our approach DE and I. So I think it’s more just I said, that agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, 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 many different countries and differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, about the way we solve different things. And we used to have very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the name of consistency fairness, and what we found is we have to be localized. We really do. We have to design mechanisms to support our teams in very different way, because their experiences and the world around them quite different.
So I think that’s definitely been one, 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 approach there multiple times, and I know we will again, because we’re still out the right way to listen and have a dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want stay on newcomers to the workplace for just another moment, because another thing I hear from of my generation and older is a concern about making that we are not just providing our youngest employees the flexibility and the purpose that they need, but the training and the wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from being in close proximity to a mentor or somebody who’s done the job for many more years. is your philosophy and take on making sure that knowledge transfer happening?
AS: I think it’s a major challenge that I don’t that everyone will sort of have a solution for. I think about that all the time. We have very distributed workforce at Vimeo. We 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 to attract talent just be more inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, I think, a lack of the same kinds of opportunities and mentorship, particularly for the youngest folks that are entering the workforce. So I think it’s challenge. One of the approaches that we’ve been taking, what’s sort of nice, is we’re modeling it at the top. So if my entire executive team distributed, that means I have to learn how to provide real-time feedback, and development for a whole set of new executives who have joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team almost entirely in last twelve months. So I’ve had to deal with same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — we it our operating system — we’ve had to design an operating system, an executive team, for how we’re going to work together in that environment. do we share real-time feedback? How do we create the right loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more have to be able to do it ourselves and model it then, I think it’s a more proven mechanism for young people. I say, like many companies … I do believe that in-person collaboration is really for learning. We do have — we bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we folks to come in and spend time in a room with their team, do social activities, all those things. I don’t think they will go away, nor do I they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an area that I don’t think we’ve figured out perfectly and I think it’s really critical as leaders, we do that, so that this next is able to get the same growth opportunities that we had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the tools that you at the very beginning of our conversation, around video, can be helpful there. I’ve heard of a number of organizations have really encouraged their young people to present, as a way having to go out and find 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 a large group people, but first, kind of going through the fact-finding and the research, and then their ideas. In an earlier comment, you talked a bit about mental illness and the different things that people bringing to work, whether it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Lives Matter protests, we had a lot of people coming the office feeling trauma, and feeling really personal issues bubble the surface. I’m wondering 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 themselves that are challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve always thought the responsibility of a is to empower people to do their best work and the responsibility of company is to empower our people to do their best work. And so, of course, we have a role 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 and you’re reacting by trying to provide mental-health resources support or time off. And, I think — and empathy, empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, to many of our managers … just care. If we just care, lot of things get easier. You don’t have to design a mechanisms if you just have the right people in place care. At the same time, I will say what we’re realizing now, sort of this next phase, is that that’s a reactive approach actually the root cause — that we can control at Vimeo — the root cause of lot of stress and burnout is sometimes people either don’t have … focus, we’re asking people to do too many things or don’t feel like they’re supported in doing those things. And that, I think, is actually we should be spending more time — is how do actually set the right prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s root 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 the “What is the there, and do we need to do things differently?” And, you know, one of our themes at Vimeo year was “Do less, better.”
SM: As the economy to, maybe, move sideways, do you think that there are going to be who say, you know, “Out with all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are my results?”
AS: Absolutely. think the pendulum has already swung pretty 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 on — and it hasn’t changed — I think the best leaders and cultures deliver results and treat well. And I actually think, if you treat people well, with kindness empathy, you will get better results. And so, you know, me, I think what I observed over the last few is — that part, I think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, a lot of times companies, we did things because maybe it was lip service or we pressured. And that’s not 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 it as — the way you channel how you are towards your employees and how you are empathetic, always be in service of helping people do their best work, will deliver results, which will be good for the bottom line. you have to believe that. You have to be committed that and if you use that consistently in your decision-making, it should be a trade-off. These are not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been care of yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil change, but also growth? You mentioned you just had a baby. There’s a lot on shoulders. How, as a leader, do you practice some self-care how do you make sure that you’re getting the balance need to be the most effective leader you can be?
AS: I — recently, the phrase I use a lot to myself is “two things can be true, both be true.” I say this a lot. And for me, I think of it as, like, “This is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We went public the height of the pandemic and last year, market volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a 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 of acknowledging both of those things has helped me 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. I have to so 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 back at my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought group of people together all on one team, and so I think that’s been, you know, really big part of it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be a little sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I am fortunate. I think I 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 walk around the city and I listen to my and do whatever I need to do, and that’s important.
SM: So you talked about how hybrid work going to look very different in the future than we describe it today. It’s basically in office a couple of days, work from a couple of other days. Tell us a little bit more about what you could see that evolving into.
AS: I think the idea of office as a time and place completely goes away. I think it’s really going to be people are going to want to work from anywhere, anywhere in world. Even the concept of where you’re located is going to change. then the idea of like “I’m going to work this time zone” or “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s scheduled on this date” — think that’s going to go away. And I think what you’re going to find is more and work, particularly from knowledge workers, is going to be done anywhere, anytime. and collaboration will happen asynchronously and we will be using and technology — whether it’s video, whether it’s AI — to basically enable that scale among many people, anywhere in the world. And I think leadership, leaders are going to look different. I think it’s going to require — if you about the skill set to be a global CEO 30 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 zones in a way that is effective, that provides context alignment at scale? How do you organize programs, whether it’s compensation, whether it’s, you know, training?” All that is going to look very different. But I the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … there were these constraints that we’ve lived with, whether it time or place or budget, in some cases. And think those constraints are going to go away. And the promise that if we are flexible and smart and we use technology in the way, that we’ll actually come away a much more evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, think you just showed us some of the passion you’ve talked about as being the thing that gives you energy to lead organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much being here today.
AS: Thank you. This was great.