Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Katrina Redmond Of Eaton On How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Have A Disability
An Interview With Eric Pines
Work/life balance is also something to prioritize.
As we all know, over the past several years there has been a great deal of discussion about inclusion and diversity in the workplace. One aspect of inclusion that is not discussed enough, is how businesses can be inclusive of people with disabilities. We know that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. What exactly does this look like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Are Disabled “.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Katrina R. Redmond.
Katrina R. Redmond is senior vice president and chief information officer for Eaton, a global intelligent power management company. In this role, Katrina is responsible for the enterprise information technology strategy and execution. Prior to joining Eaton in 2021, Katrina worked for Hubbell, where she served as vice president and CIO. Throughout her career, she has guided digital transformations and global e-commerce solutions, and delivered global enterprise system implementations. She has held IT leadership roles at ABB, GE Grid Solutions, GE Industrial Solutions and GE Plastics. Katrina received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and psychology from the University of Georgia. She later received a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from the Southern Polytechnic State University. Katrina has served on the GE Women in Technology Board and received a CIO 100 Award in 2013.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are?
I started in supply chain management early in my career and developed a strong connection to process and continuous improvement. When I was in a manufacturing quality leadership role, this positioned me well when I was asked to include information technology in my responsibilities. I have stayed in IT ever since, knowing the pivotal role it plays in organizational success.
You are a successful leader. Which character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Work ethic: My father worked hard his entire life and instilled in me a sense of responsibility and accountability when it comes to things you are a part of. It’s something I’m grateful for every day.
Stepping up to a challenge: I was the “Quality Leader” of a business I worked with in the past, and we were having many challenges with a large ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation. I asked if I could take on that ERP implementation along with my current leadership role. My managers gave me six months to make a positive impact, while embracing both roles. Fortunately, I was able to be a driving force that overcame obstacles while maintaining both roles.
Can you share a story about one of your greatest work-related struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?
I was working on a global in scale SAP (Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing) implementation for a prior business, in which implementation was going to be transformational. It was a large global project that required various levels of buy-in. Things went well in the rest of the world, but when we hit North America it was extremely difficult. We had a rough six months once the project went live, and we collectively as a team had to pull together to turn it around. There was a tremendous level of change management and collective teamwork that happened to get it across the finish line in a positive way.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
At Eaton — a global intelligent power management company developing more efficient, sustainable solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of our world — we are currently working to reposition our IT team from a project-centric model to a product or value stream-oriented model. It requires a tremendous amount of clear thinking and focus on business outcomes. But in the end, we as a team will be better positioned to support Eaton with this configuration.
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to our discussion about inclusion. Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to promote Diversity and Inclusion? Can you share a story with us?
Recently we have had the opportunity to partner with a group that promotes and supports neurodiverse people in the workplace. This talent lends itself well to our function and it has been an extremely positive endeavor that I see us growing in the future. With a global workforce of more than 85,000 Eaton aspires to be a model of inclusion and diversity in its industry.
This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have an inclusive work culture?
The reality is that the more diverse and inclusive your teams and companies are, the stronger they are. There is not a day that goes by that something is not made better by the broader contribution and perspective of a diverse community of representation. It always broadens how you think and arrive at a direction to support a goal or activity. Inclusion and diversity are tremendous strengths. From partners to employees to customers, Eaton is always looking at the bigger picture, considering sustainable sourcing, equitable work environments and prioritizing small and minority-owned businesses.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what this looks like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Can you please share a few examples?
Accommodations can be any type of support or assistance an employee or even an applicant with a disability might need to successfully apply, interview or perform their role once they are an employee. Disabilities are quite diverse and therefore the accommodations are too. At Eaton, we take this very seriously. Some examples we have worked through in our manufacturing sites and offices include:
- Installing a lifting device to enable an employee with a lifting restriction to perform an assembly role.
- Providing a workstation closer to the building entrance for an employee with mobility challenges.
- Adjusting an assembly station to enable an employee to sit while performing the role when unable to stand for long periods.
- Providing additional training and support for an employee with a learning disability to learn a new role.
Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? If you can, please share a few examples.
Ensuring that differences are always welcomed and celebrated sets the tone for how employees feel about their differences. Communicating to employees about how to request an accommodation, what our accommodation process looks like and how the employee is involved in the process can help remove any stigma from requesting an accommodation. And we’re always learning, evolving and improving. Seeing how hard our sites work to provide accommodations to enable employees to perform their roles and putting accommodations into practice will encourage more employees to feel comfortable. Our local enABLE iERG (Inclusion Eaton Resource Group) chapters also provide educational programming for our sites and partnerships with local disability organizations to build upon inclusion from all angles.
Can you share a few examples of ideas that were implemented at your workplace to help promote disability inclusion? Can you share with us how the work culture was impacted as a result?
We work with groups that match people with disabilities to fill our talent needs. Our enABLE iERG has at least three senior-level executive sponsors from our global leadership team who meet quarterly to review strategic plans and progress. Together we have offered successful programs such as:
- Sign language courses for those who are hearing impaired.
- Job fairs for people with special needs.
- Coffee talks on supporting caregivers of people with Autism.
We also make our digital content and social media content more accessible by leveraging video and captioning. Our U.S. benefits cover hearing aids, and we make interpreters available upon request. We also provide six flexible work solutions knowing our employees have diverse needs.
This is our signature question that we ask in many of our interviews. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Career”?
- Time will pass more quickly than you think.
- Work/life balance is also something to prioritize.
- It is ok to say “no.”
- Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up.
- Just be you; it is enough.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
Time will pass quickly and stop for no one; it is your choice to make either good or bad of it. We never know where the journey will take us, and it’s important to realize each day is something to take advantage of to the fullest. If you are doing that, the regrets you might have had will all be lessened. Stay on your front foot and keep moving.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I think about disadvantaged youth and how schools and even family environments are not always promoting the best outcomes for our young people. I truly wish the populations of children who do not necessarily have the best or most supportive school or home environment had ready access to tools and care to help them in their youngest, most vulnerable and formative years. That intervention, more than anything else, leads to a stronger, more balanced, and more productive society. The pandemic left untold numbers of children in dire situations, and we will see the result of that as we move forward. Early care and intervention should be a main focus of society.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Katrina can be followed on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-redmond/.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.