Business to Business Interview: Katherine McCary, SunTrust Bank

What are the business reasons for hiring individuals with disabilities?

Probably the first reason for hiring individuals with disabilities is because there is a need 
for talent in our workforce.  And probably one of the major additional reasons is 
reflecting our marketplace in our workforce today. If we want to market to customers 
with disabilities, we need to have those individuals in our workforce so that we can 
understand their needs for our products and services.

How has hiring people with disabilities helped your business?

Hiring people with disabilities at SunTrust has helped us see an increase in productivity, 
a decrease in turnover, and an increase in morale. It's simply been a great opportunity and 
experience for us.

What are some of the challenges you faced in hiring people with disabilities?

We've been engaged in hiring people with disabilities, proactively, for many years.  So I'd 
have to think back several years ago and give you what I think we probably faced as 
challenges when we were looking at increasing the employment of people with 
disabilities.  And I think they were similar to what other employers feel.  There is some 
concern, there's a lot of myths out there, about if I hire someone with a disability what's 
that going to be like in our workforce, if I hire someone with a disability will I be able to 
fire that person if they are not capable of doing the job, how will my coworkers react, and 
I think those are all basic fears and concerns that go through employer's minds if they 
haven't hired or experienced the hiring of individuals with disabilities.  To counteract 
those fears, I think we've done a very good job at SunTrust at training our human 
resource managers, our hiring managers, our frontline supervisors, and our coworkers.  
And once the reality set in and they see the positive impact of employing people with 
disabilities those myths and fears have disappeared.

How do you get first line managers with concerns and fears related to individuals with 
disabilities to hire individuals with disabilities?

I think if a first line manager has some concerns or some fears or absolutely is not open to 
employing an individual or considering an individual with a disability for a position; the 
first strategy would be to find another employer, perhaps in the same industry or another 
association affiliation, someone that can speak the business speak of that particular first 
line manager and give them some realities.  That is really what the Business Leadership 
Network is all about.  To provide that safe haven and for us to say this is what's worked 
for us, give it a try, and it will work for you.  Secondly, if that manager is extremely 
adamant about not wanting to open their minds and open their doors to people with 
disabilities, they obviously need some training and I would go on to find another first line 
supervisor who had a real need, not necessarily a passion, but a need to hire a qualified 
talent and be sure to take that approach.  Sometimes you can't win everybody over all at 
the same time; you have to do it one manager at a time.  Just pick another one.

What kind of advancement opportunities do you offer people with disabilities?

It's an odd question to ask about people with disabilities in terms of retention and 
advancement because our experience is that individuals with disabilities have a high 
retention rate, we don't seem to have high turn over in that population.  But in terms of 
promotion opportunities, they are given the same opportunities as any qualified applicant 
in our workforce.  We have an open posting system, they are not given any special 
treatment and they don't ask for any special treatment, we're looking for promoting from 
within and promoting talent, and if they have the talent they'll have the promotion.

How can businesses interested in hiring people with disabilities find people with 
disabilities?

I hear a lot of businesses say that they can't find individuals with disabilities and I think 
probably from state to state they may have different partnerships to develop and to try to 
find and develop those strategies.  In Virginia we have a very strong partnership with 
Virginia Commonwealth University, we have a partnership with the Department of 
Rehabilitative Services, a lot of community organizations, and our Chamber of 
Commerce.  And our focus is being out in the community and being recognized as being 
a disability friendly business.  I have heard that people with disabilities come to us 
because they've understood that SunTrust is open and eager to hire qualified talent.  
Different states have different organizations but I think partnership is the key.  An 
employer does not necessarily know who to go to or how to find a qualified individual 
with disabilities and if you're looking for a pipeline you need to develop a partnership.

In what areas has your company been recognized as disability friendly?

SunTrust has been recognized as being disability friendly in different areas.  One of them 
is our focus on our customer and market place, developing products and services that will 
be accessible and user friendly to customers with disabilities.  We also are regularly out 
interviewing and hiring individuals with disabilities.  I've heard many people say "I've 
heard of SunTrust, they are out in the community talking about their participation in 
disability and community events and I know I'd be welcomed there."  I think many large 
corporations can be intimidating to someone who is returning to work or starting to work 
having had a disability. The more organizations of our size that can be out in the 
community and expressing our desires to be a disability friendly business the more we'll 
have people come to us and want to be employed by us.