Intersection: Vimeo is now public, with Anjali Sud at the helm

DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION

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In this issue, we look at a trailblazing move by Ally Bank, what contract workers are looking for, and what makes the Netflix series High on the Hog special. Plus: how Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud is encouraging everyone at the company to disagree with their boss.

THE ZEITGEIST

Breaking down barriers

Ally Bank, an online bank, eliminated all overdraft fees last week. Only about 1 percent of Ally customers have ever incurred overdraft charges, but those affected tend to live paycheck to paycheck. The bank cited the disproportionate burden that overdraft fees place on Black and Latinx Americans, who pay more of these fees and are less able to afford them—especially now, with so many families on the financial brink. Overdraft and other fees can serve as a barrier to opening and maintaining a bank account: more than one third of unbanked households in the US cite high account fees as one of the reasons they do not have a checking or savings account. McKinsey research shows that limiting overdraft fees and lowering minimum opening deposit amounts could help boost financial inclusion—and that digital banking products and fully digital banks could address geographic and affordability barriers.

THE FACTS

Looking for permanence

Nonpermanent workers account for a sizable share of the US workforce: in a recent McKinsey survey, more than one in four working Americans said they were a contract, freelance, or temporary worker. Black, Hispanic, and Latinx Americans are overrepresented among nonpermanent workers, as are first- and second-generation immigrants. But three-fourths of immigrants with nonpermanent jobs would prefer permanent work—as would the majority of Black, Hispanic, Latinx, and Asian American nonpermanent workers. In fact, most contract, freelance, and temporary workers would prefer permanent employment. On the other hand, most of the executives McKinsey surveyed last summer said that they expected to see more of these workers at their company or in their business area.

US contract, freelance, and temporary workers preferring permanent employment exhibit

THE VIEW

“[Host Stephen] Satterfield’s role is twofold: he is the viewer’s guide, responsible for asking questions we don’t yet know we have. He is also an urgent seeker, with something at stake in the journey—a level of palpable, emotional vibration that most network executives overlook in an industry-wide tendency to get in the way of Black people telling their own stories.”
– Osayi Endolyn

In a recent essay, “The profound significance of ‘High on the Hog,’” Osayi Endolyn reflects on the new Netflix series hosted by fellow food writer Stephen Satterfield. High on the Hog’s directors, executive producers, and showrunner (series producer) are Black, as are its host and the historian whose book inspired the show. This sets the series apart, given that Black talent is underrepresented across the film and TV industry. A case in point: according to McKinsey research, only 5 percent of the showrunners of US-produced shows are Black. As Satterfield points out, “Oftentimes when our shows get made, when our stories get told, when our food gets talked about, it’s the ‘hardship’ story.” For both the show’s host and the essay’s author, High on the Hog is about joy and celebration. Its release, Endolyn says, is momentous because “at the center of the series is the holistic experience of Black foodways, told for us, by us: our unique and complex migration, diverse customs, creativity and expertise on full display.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Anjali Sud is the CEO of Vimeo, and last month she took the company public. Investors tapped Sud to lead the online video platform in 2017, after she created an incubator within Vimeo and launched a breakout product—Vimeo Business—in the space of a year. Sud reflected on Vimeo’s culture and her experience reinventing the company’s business model in Inside the Strategy Room, a McKinsey podcast. As a leader, Sud wants to be challenged, and she’s surrounded herself with a team of executives who are willing to disagree with her. Sud says that’s key—“because when you are on a video call and you see your boss challenge their boss, you are more likely to then challenge your own boss.” Leaders, she says, need to back up the claim that they encourage dissent: “You have to be comfortable with people openly challenging what you say. You need to be the type of leader to genuinely encourage it and not get defensive, and that is really hard to do.”

— Edited by Gwyn Herbein, an assistant managing editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office

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