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Fireside Chat with Karen Stewart: Embedding Vulnerability in Business

We are all potentially vulnerable at some stage in our lives be it a life event like redundancy or a bereavement through to our own health. 

Consumer duty is all about delivering good outcomes for all customers and vulnerability is mentioned more that 100 times in the final paper so from a regulatory aspect, it’s critical.  We have never been driven by regulation alone and we have a market leading strategy and societal responsibility behind our approach.

Customer facing colleagues are key when it comes to supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances however we recognise the need to really embed vulnerability consideration into everything we do and into our product, proposition and communication deign.  If we don’t embed consideration at this earlier stage, our customer facing colleagues will always be met with customers struggling to engage with our products and services.

Our approach to embedding vulnerability consideration is key to helping us achieve good customer outcomes and our approach has been to embed a framework supported by principles and standards as well as a three pronged approach to training which has allowed us to bring vulnerability to life for our colleagues and to help close the empathy gap for colleagues fortunate enough to have not been impacted by vulnerability or an accessibility challenge.

Karen Stewart, Vulnerable Customer Centre of Excellence - Snr Consultant at Standard Life is very passionate about her work, she shared her wonderful story at the 2023 Customer Engagement Transformation Conference, which is a not to miss!


 

 
Karen Stewart

Karen Stewart

Standard Life Vulnerable Customer Centre of Excellence - Snr Consultant

Joining Standard Life in Q4 2021, Karen has previously supported customers in vulnerable circumstances throughout her career in both retail banking and energy services.

She supports colleagues in embedding Standard Life’s Principles and Standards, support with best practice, internal and external training and upskilling resources and supporting Standard Life Workplace client visits when looking at our vulnerability management.

Karen is active externally in focus groups and forums around vulnerability and is a Vulnerability Champion for the Collaboration Network.

Focused on providing good customer outcomes, Karen has a particular interest in inclusivity and accessibility for customers and colleagues and showcasing the work we do to support our members.

Having experienced vulnerability personally, Karen is passionate about working to remove barriers and helping people get on with living their lives.

Martin Hill-Wilson

Martin Hill-Wilson

Brainfood Consulting Founder
I'm a customer engagement and digital business strategist. Also an author and international keynote speaker. Working under my own brand, Brainfood Consulting, I design masterclasses and transformational change helping clients evolve their social and digital capabilities. Current topics include omni-channel design, proactive, low effort customer experience, social customer service and customer hubs. All themed around service innovation.

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