Don’t waste a crisis.

Case study: Allbirds

Grief has a cost.

It’s around 34%. According to Gallup, 34% of disengaged employees’ annual salary, or $3,400 for every $10,000, can be lost to loss.

Laila Tarraf noticed a sense of malaise and anxiousness in the employees at Allbirds. As their Chief People Officer, Laila recognized the state her team was in — it was grief. Given the pandemic, forced remote work, retail location closures and layoffs, it was no surprise employees felt this way. Laila sensed something else too: the employees didn’t know they were grieving.

Seemingly out of the blue, the worst happened. A 23-year-old teammate, Andrew, died unexpectedly and tragically. Stunned, the team’s grief compounded.

Many employees at Allbirds could not adequately express their emotions. Some had words; they identified fear, paralysis, saying one thing, and doing another. The grief felt at odds with the Allbird’s brand promise of “confidence in comfort.”

A Harvard Business Review article had been floating around the business consciousness since the beginning of the pandemic. “That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief” called out what many in the business world were feeling but did not recognize.

With her employee’s death compounding the long pandemic, it was clear the team needed guidance. Laila engaged Grief Warrior for a simple “Lunch and Learn” to address those who were grieving Andrew’s death more directly.

The “Lunch and Learn” was so well received, the employees asked for more. Allbirds wanted deeper learning. Grief Warrior proposed its cornerstone three-part training series. Experienced via Zoom, employees learn the skills needed to support the worst of times as fully as the best of times. Allbirds wanted to make space for grief in their company culture, proof of appreciation for the talent they worked so hard to acquire.

Allbird’s first session, “Recognize,” reframes grief from a topic clouded by reservation to a universal source of connection. A week later, the team took part in the “Respect” session that teaches critical skills for simply being there for people during the worst of times. The third and final session, “Reconnect,” empowers participants to reimagine their organizations to include emotional diversity and expand the culture to include grievers.

The Allbirds team walked away with a framework for including all emotions into the workplace. A guide for a company culture of belonging, especially during the worst moments of our lives.

Confidence in comfort.

Recognize Session

Participants learn to reframe grief, how to identify it and why this matters at work.

“Felt so good being vulnerable with colleagues and opening up space for support.” —Allbirds Training Participant

Respect session

Participants learn the necessary skills to address hardship in the office — skills required to remain relevant in the future of work.

“I liked the 1:1 breakouts with team members that helped me build a stronger, intimate connection with them.” —Allbirds Training Participant

reconnect session

Participants are empowered to impact their company culture in ways that include grief and other difficult emotions.

“THANK YOU to the Allbirds leadership team for offering this training. Please offer this on a recurring basis every year.” —Allbirds Training Participant