Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m so glad you’re here with us today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, is great to be here.
SM: At Vimeo, you lead a workforce of 1,300 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 manage this 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. 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, matter what company you were … responsible for, was that couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always control the and the things around you. And so, you know, for me, was really about agility. How do we stay flexible a team? How do we communicate in real time and keep people informed as try and move through things? And then, also just how do we with more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one of the things I’ve learned over the last few years is we each experience world so differently. We have employees who are remote. We have an team 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 world are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, and so I think it was really just — the part was not being able to give everyone certainty, not being able just apply a one-size-fits-all rule for everyone. But I ultimately think it forced us, as a company, to more trust, because to be agile and flexible, and to lead with humanity, you have trust each other. And so, I’m sort of optimistic that we’re emerging from this time with a culture that is more flexible nimble, and also, hopefully, has more trust.
SM: Can you give an example something that you put into place, perhaps during the pandemic, to enhance communications build trust or create a greater sense of community or to communicate that there is no certainty, that is a that you think you’ll continue to use in the far into the future?
AS: There’s a couple of things that did. One — and we are a video platform, so I obviously have to about video, but I mean this sincerely — one of the 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 away from email and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, and try, particularly for our leadership team, when we were communicating, to do it with your face, and hands and your body and your emotions. And we that through live streaming a lot of communications, recording a lot of videos. We sent video messages. So I send … I record my and just send a note out to people. Every new hire does video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot of meetings we’ve actually replaced with just quick video presentations. And actually, 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, really important thing.
Another important is, I think, just creating mechanisms to make it easier to about when things aren’t working, because a critical part of agile is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. And so of the things that we do at Vimeo is try — I do this in all of my town halls, do it in a lot of meetings — is talk 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 sort of takes the stigma away from talking about what’s not working. And when make that normalized and comfortable for people, I feel like it’s us to be more open, as an organization, about do we need to change, what do we need to pivot. both of those, being more video-first in our communication and being transparent and normalizing what’s not working, I think has been really helpful, and something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love that advice about being video-first. So many of our members our workforce live in a video world. They’re used to video as a of communication. Which brings me to my next question. You’ve about how the organization has changed. How do you see workforce changing? What is different with the young millennials, and even, now, 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 we still use today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed a totally different environment and a totally different generation. I see a lot of differences. One of them, I think, is the line between your personal life work life is definitely blending. … If you think about your personal life — look TikTok. This generation is used to consuming content, learning, engaging, a very specific way. And if they then have to come to work and to trained on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not 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 so I that there is definitely sort of this — you know, we talk about the “consumerization enterprise.” Those are just fancy words for saying the … we communicate and interact in our personal lives is 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 of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s a desire to really understand “why” behind things. And one of our communication mantras we never talk about the “what” without the “why.” And I there’s a desire to — the idea that, well, there’s hierarchy, or “My boss told me that this is what we’re to do” or — that, I think, is increasingly away, and people, they don’t just want to do something someone with formal authority told them to do it. want to do it because they understand why it matters, why it ties the mission. And I think that that forces leaders to really bring more the “why” into how we communicate and motivate people.
So those are two the things I see, and then, you know, the third I is just flexibility. I think — and this is true of all us, but particularly the younger generation — I think they’re looking for and they want options and choices. And it’s not always easy and to provide ultimate flexibility, but this is where I and orient it more to agility. How can we have approaches and principles and committed to things, but also know when to question, and to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you share a few of ways that you at Vimeo have tried to really be 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 of flexibility? Are there programs or you’ve put in place that really speak to this big sea change we’re seeing in terms of values the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all about listening, right? And think, like many organizations, the way we’ve tried to and understand our workforce is very similar: it’s Q and As and surveys, and things like that. And some of the that we’ve done, we have a people and culture NPS, net promoter score, the way we have for our users, for our internal teams. But I would say one the things that we’ve really tried to do is 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 totality and and pull 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 experiences desires among your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve really just to do 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 this thing as 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 our approach to hybrid work 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, agile listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not everything as, like, an average or the same. And for us, it’s been particularly because we have offices and teams in so many different and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, about the way we solve different things. we used to have a very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach the name of consistency and fairness, and what we found we have to be more localized. We really do. We have to mechanisms to support our teams in a very different way, because their experiences and the around them is quite different.
So I think that’s definitely been one, and I will you, it has involved a lot of — as executive team and leadership team — it’s involved a lot of things, it not working, and changing them. And a great example is our Q A. I feel like every leader I know has a on 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 figuring out the right way to listen and a dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to stay on to the workplace for just another moment, because another I hear from CEOs of my generation and older is a concern about making that we are not just providing our youngest employees with the flexibility and purpose that they need, but also the training and wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from being in close proximity a mentor or to somebody who’s done the job for more years. What is your philosophy and take on making that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s a challenge that I don’t know that everyone will sort have a solution for. I think about that all the time. We have a very workforce at Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My team is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the of being able to have a distributed workforce and being able to attract talent and be more 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 I it’s a 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 entire executive team is distributed, that means I have learn how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development a whole set of new executives who have just joined. We have sort of up the executive team almost entirely in the last twelve months. I’ve had to deal with the 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 that environment. How do we share real-time feedback? How do we the right communication loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s more have to be able to do it ourselves and model and then, I think it’s a more proven mechanism for young people. 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 spend time in a room with their team, do social activities, of 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 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 mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, around video, can really helpful there. I’ve heard of a number of organizations that have really encouraged young people to present, as a way of having to go out and the information they need. And then, because we have video tools to us now, you know, they have an opportunity to share their ideas with a group of people, but first, kind of going through fact-finding and the research, and then sharing their ideas. In an comment, you talked a little bit about 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, and really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering if you can share a little bit about you deal with this increasing personal — you know, when people bring their whole selves the office, which we encourage, sometimes, they bring things, parts of themselves are challenging.
AS: Yeah … I’ve always thought the responsibility of a leader to empower people to do their best work and the responsibility of a company is to empower people to do their best work. And so, of course, we have a real role to play in supporting like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, the way I think, many companies, the way we initially probably sought to do that more, you know, you’re seeing a problem and you’re reacting by to provide mental-health resources or support or time off. And, I think — and empathy, empathy. I think that’s really important. And I always say, to so many of our … just care. If we just care, a lot of get 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 will what we’re realizing now, in sort of this next phase, is that that’s a approach and actually the root cause — that we can at Vimeo — the root cause of a lot of stress and burnout is people 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 more time — is how do we actually set right prioritization and focus. There’s some 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. don’t feel equipped to solve it.” Then, we should into the “What is the detail there, and do 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 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. think the pendulum has already swung pretty clearly. I mean, I in SAS, software as a service, so we already from “growth at all cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. perspective on this — and it hasn’t changed — I think best leaders and cultures deliver results and treat people well. And I think, if you treat people well, with kindness and empathy, you will better results. And so, you know, for me, I think I observed over the last few years is — that part, think, hasn’t changed and shouldn’t change. There were, I think, a of times when companies, we did things because maybe it was lip service or we pressured. And that’s not going to be sustainable. But that’s what — ultimately, that’s not what people need, in any case. So, you know, I sort of it as — the way you channel how you caring towards your employees and how you are empathetic, always should be service of helping people do their best work, which will deliver results, will be good for the bottom line. And you to believe that. You have to be committed to that and if you that consistently in your decision-making, it should not be a trade-off. are not mutually exclusive things.
SM: Anjali, how have you taking care of yourself during this period of tremendous turmoil and change, also growth? You mentioned you just had a baby. There’s a lot your shoulders. How, as a leader, do you practice some self-care or do you make sure that you’re getting the balance need to be the most effective leader you can be?
AS: I think — recently, the phrase I use a 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 of the pandemic and last year, market volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re going through a ton with post-pandemic, we have a in Ukraine going through a war — all these things have happened. And so, it’s a hard job, and it’s incredibly privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, think for me, it’s sort of acknowledging both of those things has helped me lot. The way I’ve tried to kind of lead, has been — it’s always this way, which is, for me, it’s I have to have passion. I have to have passion. have to believe so deeply that what Vimeo is doing 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 to joy in my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look back at my career actually, some of my most fulfilling times in work when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because it brought a group of people together on one team, and so I think that’s been, you know, a really big of 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 a great support network around me and I do … My husband and I a deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for a couple of hours. I disappear and I walk around the city and I listen my music and do whatever I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you about how hybrid work is going to look very different in the future than we describe it today. It’s basically in office a couple of days, from home a couple of other days. Tell us little bit more about what you could potentially see evolving 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 to work 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 zone” or “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s scheduled this date” — I think that’s going to go away. And I think what you’re going find is more and more work, particularly from knowledge workers, 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 — to 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 what that will require now — I think in future … the skill set is going to be like, “How do you communicate with diverse, global and employees across time zones 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 that is going look very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … were these constraints that we’ve lived with, whether it was or place or budget, in some cases. And I think those constraints are going to go away. And promise is that if we are flexible and smart and we technology in the right way, that we’ll actually come away a much 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 organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much for being today.
AS: Thank you. This was great.