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 finance people, you technologists. So I’m going to start with a really easy question: what was like to manage this diverse workforce through a global pandemic, a racial reckoning a very fraught return to office?
AS: Oh, it was a breeze, Stephanie. No, it was really challenging. know, I think the only constant has been change. And as leader, you obviously — you have a workforce that’s looking certainty, and they’re looking to control what’s happening around them. And I think we all found, as leaders, no matter what company you were … responsible for, was you couldn’t offer certainty, and you couldn’t always control the environment and the things around you. so, you know, for me, it was really about agility. How we stay flexible as a team? How do we in real time and keep people informed as we try and move through things? And then, also just do we lead with more humanity? You know, for Vimeo, one of the things I’ve really learned the last few years is we each experience the world so differently. We have employees are remote. We have an incredible team in Ukraine … employees are on the front lines, who are literally at war. On the hand, you have people in different parts of the world who are experiencing mental-health challenges or burnout, so I think it was really just — the part was not being able to give everyone certainty, not being able to 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 lead humanity, you have to trust each other. And so, I’m sort of optimistic actually we’re emerging from this time with a culture that more flexible and nimble, and also, hopefully, has more trust.
SM: Can give an example of something that you put into place, perhaps during pandemic, to enhance communications or build trust or create a greater sense of community or even communicate that there is no certainty, that is a muscle that you think you’ll to use in the organization far into the future?
AS: There’s couple of things that we did. One — and are a video platform, so I obviously have to about video, but I mean this sincerely — one of hardest parts, when you’re all sort of disparate, is lose context and you lose nuance when you communicate. And did make a concerted effort to move away from and chat, text-based communication, as much as possible, and actually try, 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 of videos. We sent asynchronous video messages. So I … I record my screen and just send a note out to people. Every hire does a video to welcome and introduce themselves. A lot our meetings we’ve actually replaced with just quick video presentations. actually, what that really did was allow the humanity and context to come through and I think that helped us a lot to, kind of, stay close. that was one, I think, really important thing.
Another important is, I think, just creating mechanisms to make it to talk about when things aren’t working, because a critical of being agile is recognizing we have an area that isn’t working. And so one the things that we do at Vimeo is we try — I do in all of my town halls, we do it in lot of meetings — is always talk about what’s working, what are our three things, and what isn’t working — yet. And we’ve kind created, I think, a framework that sort of takes stigma away from talking about what’s not working. And you make that normalized and comfortable for people, I like it’s allowed us to be more open, as an organization, about what do we need to change, do we need to 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 really helpful, certainly something we’re carrying forward.
SM: I love that about being video-first. So many of 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. do you see the workforce changing? What is different with the millennials, and even, now, the first wave of Gen Z coming into workplace?
AS: I think it’s incredibly different. And, you know, one 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 for a totally different environment and a totally different generation. But 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 at TikTok. This is used to consuming content, learning, engaging, in a very specific way. And if they then to come to work and to be trained on job, read a 300-page manual? Like, it’s not going to happen, right? Or you miss the meeting, and you have to watch the Zoom recording of a three-hour meeting — that’s not going to happen. And so I think that there is definitely sort this — you know, we talk 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 I see from sort of the generation, the newest generation into the workforce, is sort of, of course mission-driven, but I think there’s desire to really understand the “why” behind things. And one of our communication mantras is we never about the “what” without the “why.” And I think there’s a to — the idea that, well, there’s a hierarchy, “My boss told me that this is what we’re to do” or — that, I think, is increasingly moving away, and people, they don’t want to do something because someone with formal authority told them to do it. They want to it because they understand why it matters, why it ties to mission. And I think that that forces leaders to bring more of the “why” into how we communicate motivate people.
So those are two of the things see, and then, you know, the third I think is just flexibility. I — and this is true of all of us, but particularly the generation — I think they’re looking for flexibility and they want options and choices. And it’s not easy and feasible to provide ultimate flexibility, but this where I try and orient it more to agility. How can have approaches and principles and be committed to things, but also know when to question, when to actually pivot?
SM: Yeah. Anjali, can you a few examples of ways that you at Vimeo have to really be proactive when it comes to addressing or what your next generation of employees are going to want, in terms of purpose or in terms of benefits or in of flexibility? Are there programs or processes you’ve put in place that speak to this big sea change we’re seeing in of values from the workforce?
AS: Firstly, of course, it’s all listening, right? And I think, like many organizations, the way we’ve tried to listen and understand our is very similar: it’s Q and As and engagement surveys, and things like that. And some of the that we’ve done, we have a people and culture NPS, net promoter score, the same we have for our users, for our internal teams. But would say one of the things that we’ve really tried to do is appreciate that we get inputs from our employees, 1,300 employees … you can’t look at averages. You can’t look at it all in totality and and pull out an obvious “Oh, this is how everybody’s feeling.” what you actually — when you really dig into it and truly listen and focus groups and talk to people — what you’ll find is actually there’s very different experiences and desires your employees. And so, I think for us, what we’ve really just tried to do is have a bunch different listening mechanisms and then resist the urge to conveniently pull, like, “Oh, this is everyone’s feeling, let’s just do this thing as the action.” And it’s hard, 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 to hybrid work or travel or even things like our approach compensation or our approach to DE and I. So I think it’s more just like I said, that listening, constantly really understanding what’s happening, but not treating everything as, like, an average the same. And for us, it’s been particularly stark because we have and teams in so many different countries and the differences, they’re substantial. They’re really substantial, the way we solve different things. And we used to a very, sort of, “One Vimeo” global approach in the name of consistency and fairness, and what found 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 is quite different.
So I think that’s definitely been one, and I will tell you, it has a lot of — as an executive team and team — it’s involved a lot of trying things, it working, and changing them. And a great example is our and A. I 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 our approach there multiple times, I know we will again, because we’re still figuring out the way to listen and have a dialogue with a very diverse workforce.
SM: I want to on newcomers to the workplace for just another moment, another thing 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 the 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 many more years. What is your philosophy take on making sure that knowledge transfer is happening?
AS: I think it’s a major that I don’t know that everyone will sort of have solution for. I think about that all the time. We have a very distributed workforce Vimeo. We have people in over eight countries. My executive is entirely distributed. So I’ve really realized the benefits of able to have a distributed workforce and being able to attract and just be more inclusive. On the flip side, there’s definitely, I think, a lack the same kinds of learning opportunities and mentorship, particularly for the youngest that are entering the workforce. So I think it’s challenge. One of the approaches that we’ve been taking, and what’s sort nice, is we’re modeling it at the top. So if my executive team is distributed, that means I have to learn how to provide real-time feedback, mentorship development for a whole set of new executives who have joined. We have sort of changed up the executive team entirely in the last twelve months. So I’ve had deal with the same challenges. And we’ve had to literally — we call it our system — we’ve had to design an operating system, as executive team, for how we’re going to work together in that environment. do we share real-time feedback? How do we create the communication loops? And so I think, from my perspective, it’s we have to be able to do it ourselves and model it then, I think it’s a more proven mechanism for young people. will say, like many companies … I do believe that in-person collaboration is important for learning. We do have — we bring people into an office. you’re remote, we ask folks to come in and spend time in a room with team, do social activities, all of those things. I don’t think they will go away, do 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 that as leaders, we do that, so that this generation is able to get the same growth opportunities we all had.
SM: Well, and it’s interesting — the that you mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, around video, can be really helpful there. I’ve heard a number of organizations that have really encouraged their young people present, as a way of having to go out and the information they need. And then, because we have video tools available to now, you know, they have an opportunity to share their ideas with a large group of people, first, kind of going through the fact-finding and the research, and then sharing their ideas. an earlier comment, you talked a little bit about mental and the different things that people are bringing to work, whether is, you know, exhaustion, burnout. During the Black Lives Matter protests, we had a lot of people to the office feeling trauma, and feeling really personal issues bubble to the surface. I’m wondering you can share a little bit about how you deal with increasing personal — you know, when people bring their selves to 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 is 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 real 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 probably sought to do was more, you know, you’re seeing a problem and you’re reacting by trying to provide mental-health resources or support time off. And, I think — and empathy, just empathy. I think that’s important. And I always say, to so many of our … just care. If we just care, a lot of things get easier. You don’t have to a hundred mechanisms if you just have the right people in place care. At the same time, I will say what we’re realizing now, in of this next phase, is that that’s a reactive approach actually the root cause — that we can control at — the root cause of a lot of stress and burnout is 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 those things. And that, I think, is where we should be spending more time — is how do we actually set the prioritization and focus. There’s some issue there, right? There’s a root cause there that’s a “Oh, 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 differently?” And, you know, one of our themes at this year 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 all cost” to “profitability,” know, pendulum swing. My perspective on this — and hasn’t changed — I think the best leaders and deliver results and treat people well. And I actually think, you treat people well, with kindness and empathy, you get better results. And so, you know, for me, think what I observed over the last few years — 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 — ultimately, that’s not what people need, in any case. So, you know, sort of see it as — the way you channel how you are caring towards your employees and you are empathetic, always should be in service of helping people do their best work, will deliver results, which will be good for the bottom line. And have to believe that. You have to be committed to and if you use that consistently in your decision-making, 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 you just had a baby. There’s a on your shoulders. How, as a leader, do you some self-care or how do you make sure that you’re getting the balance you to be the most effective leader you can be?
AS: I think — recently, the phrase I a lot to myself is “two things can be true, both can be true.” say this a lot. And for me, I think of as, like, “This job is hard, and it’s gotten harder.” went public at the height of the pandemic and last year, volatility has been tremendous. You know, we’re obviously going a ton with post-pandemic, we have a team in going through a war — all these things that have happened. And so, it’s a hard job, it’s an incredibly privileged job. It’s a gift, right? And so, I think for me, it’s sort 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 have passion. I have to have passion. I have to believe so deeply that what Vimeo is doing important and matters for the world. And if I have passion, have energy and then I will — I can kind of move through anything. I to find joy in my team. I feel like, especially in hard times, I look back my career and actually, some of my most fulfilling times work were when — in the hardest business situations. But it’s because brought a group of people together all on one team, and I think that’s been, you know, a really big of it. And then, yeah, like, you have to be a selfish sometimes, and take care of yourself. And I really fortunate. I think I have a great support network around me and I do … My husband I have a deal, where on Sundays, I disappear for couple of hours. I just disappear and I walk around the city and I to my music and do whatever I need to do, and that’s really important.
SM: So talked about how hybrid work is going to look very different in the future how we describe it today. It’s basically in office a couple of days, work from home couple of other days. Tell us a little bit more about what you could see that evolving into.
AS: I think the idea an office as a time and place completely goes away. I think it’s really going to be people are going to want to work anywhere, anywhere in the world. Even the concept of where you’re is going to change. And then the idea of like “I’m going work on this time zone” or “I’m going to attend this that’s scheduled on this date” — I think that’s going to away. And I think what you’re going to 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 world. And then I think leadership, leaders are going to look different. Because I think it’s going require — if you think about the skill set be a global CEO 30 years ago versus what will require now — I think 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 and alignment at scale? do you organize programs, whether it’s compensation, whether it’s, you know, training?” All of that is to look very different. But I think the ultimate thing you’ll see is just … there were these that we’ve lived with, whether it was time or place or budget, in some cases. And I those constraints are going to go away. And the promise is that if are flexible and smart and we use technology in the right way, that we’ll 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 lead that organization of 1,300 people worldwide. Anjali, thank you so much for being here today.
AS: you. This was great.