You might say Judy Kerr is one in a thousand.

Why? Because although she has worked with TD for less than three years, she has already earned a Vision In Action Award, the company's most prestigious award for employee recognition.

Typically, fewer than 100 of TD's approximately 85,000 employees in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom earn the distinction each year. Simply, this means that Kerr is one of TD's best. She is a welcome sight for customers, a great colleague, and a people manager's dream.

“I started in the fraud department as an agent in the front, so I was facing customers," says Kerr, a resource officer in the fraud management area. "In my current role, I support agents taking calls regarding fraud from customers. As well, I take any escalations that customers may have, and I’m the second point of contact and the first supervisor point of contact.”

Kerr studied psychology at York University and says she has always had a passion for working with people. Because she uses an electric wheelchair, Kerr says she also connects with disability issues on a personal level and appreciates TD’s efforts to make her workspace accessible.

“It’s a great family of people to be working with,” she says, “TD is a place where I can grow and have a career rather than just a job.”

TD's hiring process takes into consideration that there is a growing number of people in the general workforce who have a disability — whether visible or invisible.

“We have an accommodation team that works with hiring managers, current employees and new hires, to ensure individual accommodation requirements are met. Some hires require no accommodation while others may negotiate their own accommodation if they are uncomfortable about disclosing a disability. It's all about making sure there is a smooth transition into the workplace,” says Nicole Jacksic, Senior Manager Diversity Recruitment at TD. "We want employees to be themselves and bring their whole self to work."

Once someone is hired and depending on their needs, TD's Assistive Technology team is available with current technology to accommodate any employees' requirements. Some examples of assistive technology used at TD include modified keyboards or mice, Jaws, Zoomtext, and speech recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.

In addition, TD works with many recruitment experts across the country to find the best people to hire. One such organization, Lime Connect, has been TD's partner since 2009. Lime Connect attracts highly accomplished people with disabilities and links them with corporate partners.

Along with organizing corporate recruitment receptions and managing the "Lime Network "—a virtual program that connects and prepares candidates for careers with corporate partners—it promotes the TD Bank Group's Lime Connect Canada Scholarship Program offered in each fall. "We encourage all university students and alumni who happen to have disabilities to join The Lime Network, and take advantage of Lime Connect’s programs," says Jacksic.

Diversity recruiters and employees from TD hold information sessions on campuses across the country highlighting careers at TD in areas such as business, technology, securities trading, commercial banking, wealth, marketing, finance, human resources, and risk.

“We look at talent first and disability second,” says Jacksic. “Our recruitment teams partner with career centres and offices for students with disabilities at universities across Canada to source talented students, graduates, and professionals with disabilities.”

Removing barriers and encouraging all employees to reach their full potential is part of the company's broader commitment to diversity and inclusion and is one reason TD been named a three-time winner of Canada's Best Diversity Employers.