Stephanie Mehta: Welcome, Anjali. I’m so glad you’re here with today.
Anjali Sud: Thank you, it is great to here.
SM: At Vimeo, you lead a workforce of 1,300 people worldwide — have creatives, you have finance people, you have technologists. So I’m going to start with a really question: what was it like to manage this diverse 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 constant has been change. And as a leader, you — you have a workforce that’s looking for certainty, and they’re to control what’s happening around them. And I think what we all found, as leaders, matter what company you were … responsible for, was that you couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always the environment and the things around you. And so, know, for me, it was really about agility. How do we flexible as a team? How do we communicate in real time and keep people informed as we and move through things? And then, also just how we lead with more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one the things I’ve really learned over the last few years is we each the world so differently. We have employees who are remote. have an incredible team in Ukraine … employees who are on front lines, who are literally at war. On the hand, you have people in different parts of the world 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, as a company, to build more trust, because be agile and flexible, and to lead with humanity, 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 more trust.
SM: Can you give an of something that you put 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 continue to use in the organization far the future?
AS: There’s a couple of things that we did. — and we are a video platform, so I obviously have to 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. And we did make a concerted effort move away from email 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 and your and your emotions. And we did that through live streaming a lot of communications, recording lot of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So send … I record my screen and just send a out to people. Every new hire does a video to and introduce themselves. A lot of our meetings we’ve actually replaced with just video presentations. And actually, what that really did was the humanity and the context to come through and think that helped us a lot to, kind of, stay close. that was one, I think, really important thing.
Another important thing is, I think, just creating mechanisms make it easier to talk about when things aren’t working, because a part of being agile is recognizing we have an that isn’t working. And so one of the things we do at Vimeo is we try — I this in all of my town halls, we do in a lot of meetings — is always talk what’s working, what are our top three things, and what isn’t — yet. And we’ve kind of created, I think, framework that sort of takes the stigma away from talking what’s not working. And when you make that normalized comfortable for people, I feel like it’s allowed us to be open, as an organization, about what do we need to change, what do need to pivot. And 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, certainly something we’re carrying 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 to as a means of communication. Which brings me to my question. You’ve talked about how the organization has changed. How do you see the workforce changing? What different with the young millennials, and even, now, the first wave of Gen Z coming the workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, of the things that we think about at Vimeo a lot is lot of the mechanisms and communication modes that we still today, they’re really antiquated. They were designed for a totally environment and a totally different generation. But I see a lot differences. One 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. generation is used to consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. if they then have to come to work and to trained on a job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s going to 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 to happen. so I think that there is definitely sort of this — you know, we about the “consumerization of enterprise.” Those are just fancy words saying the way … we communicate and interact in our personal lives is going to translate work. And so I definitely think that’s an area of opportunity.
The other 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 the “why” behind things. And one our communication mantras is we never talk about the “what” the “why.” And I think there’s a desire to — idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, or “My boss me that this 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. They to do it because 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 are 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 generation — I think they’re looking for flexibility and want options and choices. And it’s not always easy and feasible to ultimate flexibility, but this is where I try and orient it more agility. How can we have approaches and principles and be committed to things, but know when to question, and when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you a few examples of ways that you at Vimeo tried to really be proactive when it comes to or understanding what your next generation of employees are going to want, either in terms of purpose in terms of benefits or in terms of flexibility? Are programs or processes you’ve put in place that really to this big sea change we’re seeing in terms of 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 understand our workforce is very similar: it’s Q and 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 our users, for our internal teams. But I would one of the things that we’ve really tried to is appreciate that when we get inputs from our employees, 1,300 … you can’t look at the averages. You can’t at it all in totality and try and pull an obvious “Oh, this is how everybody’s feeling.” Because what you actually — when you really dig into and truly listen and do focus groups and talk to — 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 tried to do is have bunch of different listening mechanisms and then resist the urge to conveniently pull, like, “Oh, is what everyone’s feeling, let’s just do this thing the action.” And it’s hard, and we’re still kind of figuring it out, but I will tell you, of the things that we’ve heard from employees have changed our approach to hybrid work or travel or things like our approach to compensation or our approach to DE and I. I think it’s more just like I said, that listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not treating as, like, an average or the same. And for us, it’s been stark because we have offices and teams in so many countries and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, about way we solve different things. And we used to have very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the name of consistency and fairness, what we found is we have to be more localized. We do. We have to design mechanisms to support our teams in a very different way, because their experiences the world 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 trying things, it not working, and changing them. And great example is our Q and A. I feel like leader I know has a perspective on whether they do open Q and or anonymous Q and A, or real-time Q and A. We’ve our approach there multiple times, and I know we will again, 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 the workplace for just another moment, another thing I hear from CEOs of my generation and older a concern about making sure that we are not just providing our employees with the flexibility and the purpose that they need, but the training and the wisdom that comes, oftentimes, from being in close to a mentor or to somebody who’s done the job for many more years. What your philosophy and take on making sure that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s major challenge that I don’t know that everyone will sort of a solution for. I think about that all the time. We a very distributed workforce at Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My team is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits being 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 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. if my entire executive team is distributed, that means I have to learn how provide real-time feedback, mentorship and development for a whole set of executives who have just joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team almost entirely in last twelve months. So I’ve had to deal with the same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — we call 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 create the right 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 say, like many companies … I do believe that in-person collaboration is important for learning. We do have — we bring people into an office. If you’re remote, we ask folks come in and spend time in a room with their team, do social activities, all of those things. I don’t think they will away, nor do I think they should. But, you know, candidly, it’s an area I don’t think we’ve really figured out perfectly and I think it’s really that as leaders, we do that, so that this next is able to get the same growth opportunities that we all had.
SM: Well, it’s interesting — the tools that you mentioned at the very beginning of conversation, around video, can be really helpful there. I’ve heard of a number of organizations have really encouraged their young people to present, as way of having to go out and find the they need. And then, because we have video tools available us now, you know, they have an opportunity to their ideas with a large group of people, but first, of going through the fact-finding and the research, and then their ideas. In an earlier comment, you talked a little bit about mental illness the different things that people are bringing to work, it is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Black Lives Matter protests, we had a lot of coming to the office feeling trauma, and feeling really personal issues bubble to surface. I’m wondering if you can share a little bit about how you deal with increasing personal — you know, when people bring their whole selves the office, which we encourage, sometimes, they bring things, parts of 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 a company to empower our people to do their best work. so, of course, we have a real role to play in supporting like mental-health issues or burnout. And, you know, the way think, like many companies, the way we initially probably sought to do 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 think — empathy, just empathy. I think that’s really important. And always say, to so many of our managers … just care. we just care, a lot of things get easier. You don’t have to a hundred mechanisms if you just have the right 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 control Vimeo — the root cause of a lot of stress and is sometimes people either don’t have enough … focus, we’re asking people to do many things or they don’t feel like they’re supported in doing things. And that, I think, is actually where we should be spending more time — how do we 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 there’s too much going on. I don’t feel equipped to solve it.” Then, should get into the “What is the detail there, do we need to do things differently?” And, you know, one of our themes at Vimeo this was “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 all of this touchy-feely, the workplace-as-a-family stuff. Where are results?”
AS: Absolutely. I think the pendulum has already pretty clearly. I mean, I work in SAS, software a service, so we already went from “growth at cost” to “profitability,” you know, pendulum swing. My perspective on this — and it hasn’t changed — I the 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 better results. And so, know, for 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 when companies, we things because maybe it was lip 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 any case. So, know, I sort of see it as — the way you channel you are caring towards your employees and how you empathetic, always should be in service of helping people do best work, which will deliver results, which will be good for the bottom line. you have to believe that. You have to be to that and if you use that consistently in decision-making, it should not be a trade-off. These are not mutually things.
SM: Anjali, how have you been taking care of yourself during this period tremendous turmoil and change, but also growth? You mentioned just had a baby. There’s a lot on your shoulders. How, as a leader, you practice some self-care or how do you make that you’re getting the balance you need to be the effective leader you can be?
AS: I think — 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 it as, like, “This job is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” We went public at height of the pandemic and last year, market volatility been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going through a with post-pandemic, we have a team in Ukraine going through a war — all these that have happened. And so, it’s a hard job, and it’s incredibly privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, I think for me, it’s of acknowledging both of those things has helped me a lot. way I’ve tried to kind of lead, has been — it’s been this way, which is, for me, it’s I have to passion. I have to have passion. I have to believe so deeply 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, look back at my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times in were when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because brought a group of people together all on one team, so I think that’s been, you know, a really big of it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be little selfish sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I am really fortunate. I I have a great support network around me and I do … husband and I have a deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for a couple of hours. I just disappear I walk around the city and I listen to my music and do whatever I need do, and that’s really important.
SM: So you talked about how hybrid work going to look very different in the future than how we it today. It’s basically in office a couple of days, from home a couple of other days. Tell us a little bit more about you could potentially see that evolving into.
AS: I think idea of an office as a time and place completely goes away. And I it’s really going to be people are going to want work from anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the of where you’re located is going to change. And the idea of like “I’m going to work on this time zone” “I’m going to attend this meeting that’s scheduled on date” — I think that’s going to go away. I think what you’re going to find is more more work, particularly from knowledge workers, is going to done anywhere, anytime. Communication and collaboration will happen asynchronously and will be using tools and technology — whether it’s video, whether it’s AI — to basically 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 be global CEO 30 years ago versus what that will require now — I think in the future … skill set is going to be like, “How do you communicate with diverse, global audiences and employees across zones in a way that is effective, that provides context and alignment at scale? How you organize programs, whether it’s compensation, whether it’s, you know, training?” All of that going to look very different. But I think the thing you’ll see 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 use technology in the right way, that we’ll actually away a much more evolved and efficient workforce.
SM: Well, I think you showed us some of the passion that you’ve talked about as being the thing that gives you energy lead that organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much being here today.
AS: Thank you. This was great.