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Jan Küster, founder of Founders Fight Club and project manager of the Corporate Health Hub at ISPO, understands what makes the corporate health sector tick and what it involves. In this interview, the market expert explains the growth opportunities and significance of this growing area in the health market, which also offers points of contact and earning opportunities for the sports industry.
Whether at work, in sport or at home: Mental health is the basis for performance, creativity and human interaction. Expectations of companies are rising: Health, resilience and balance are now at the heart of every corporate strategy. ISPO 2025 is responding to this change with the Health & Wellbeing Area: a place for networking, innovation and practical solutions in the areas of regeneration, resilience and corporate health. Be there – from 30. NOV. – 02. DEZ. in Munich.
ISPO.com: Jan, first of all, can you explain to us what corporate health is and why the topic is so relevant?
Jan: Corporate health helps people to lead a healthier lifestyle and supports them in giving their best. Employers benefit from this, but so do employees: for example, by gaining access to services that may not be covered by the public healthcare system.
We wanted to bring this together with the sports industry at ISPO to bridge the gap to the future of health, sport, wellbeing and sustainability and bring it into the world of corporate benefits and HR. This is indeed corporate health.
Because corporate health isn’t just the company doctor who comes in for flu shots. It really is a whole universe. And that also means that the traditional manufacturers of sports and wellness products, be it textiles, be it technical products, be it hardware products, could see corporate health as an excellent sales channel.
Companies like Garmin, for example, offer their devices at a discount or subsidized by the employer as part of corporate health challenges. That’s a really smart move. I think a lot of sports companies that are traditionally in this space can work with large and small companies and provide them with expertise in their health ecosystem to make sure they can fulfill their roles in corporate health as well.
In our white paper, we found that the future of retail and sport also lies in technology. Almost 80% of respondents exercise primarily to maintain and improve their health. 76% believe that mental health is just as important as physical health. Why do you think this combination is such a powerful driver of growth?
We’ve all heard of the “runner’s high” too. We know that exercise increases our dopamine and serotonin levels. Many people go to the gym at the weekend or in the evening, not necessarily to win a competition, maybe for health, but also to boost their stress resistance and maybe lower their cortisol levels, just to lead a more balanced lifestyle.
So this overlap makes perfect sense to me. What also gives me hope is that mental health is becoming increasingly destigmatized. It’s also an important differentiator between top athletes, who all work with mental coaches. We also know that the COVID pandemic, for example, has at least increased the visibility of mental health problems.
And something else is also very interesting when it comes to health in companies: mental health is so strongly linked to how you feel at work and how much pressure you can withstand. In other words, how resilient the employee is and whether the employee is equipped with a tool to make them resilient. The white paper also states that almost half of employers have made employees redundant due to health problems.
This means that one in two people have resigned due to health problems at work. Two thirds of these resignations could therefore have been prevented by better health programs. That is unimaginable.
Two-thirds. Yet we have a shortage of skilled workers and a war of talent. At the same time, people are quitting because they are worried about their health. Is occupational health care the answer to this question?
I definitely think so. Healthcare systems in general are not necessarily designed to be preventative. So the public health system only kicks in when you are ill.
If we have an employee who has been diagnosed with burnout, it takes an average of eight months between the diagnosis and the first therapy session, during which the person is basically no longer able to do the work entrusted to them. Eight months in which you lose the talent.
It simply makes good business sense to minimize this risk and understand that the public health system will not take care of it, or will do so only after a delay.
Furthermore, companies, especially in Germany, are not necessarily expecting the rosiest of economic times. So resilience, mental health and balance are becoming a very important differentiator for a successful business.
And that’s why corporate health is becoming so important. If employees could go to someone who says: Yes, we really take this seriously. We want you to be as good as you can be.
And I think that’s the reason why people then change jobs, to maybe get a gym membership, to maybe get access to health apps that don’t just cover the young and healthy either. It could be sleep coaching, it could be nutrition coaching. All of this is what top talent expects from their employer. This trend is only going to increase.
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According to the white paper, almost 53 percent of consumers want sports stores to become true health centers that offer advice, services and products. In other words, they want the sports retailer to become the place to go when it comes to expertise that will help them maintain and improve their own health. Why do you think this change is taking place?
If I can stay at home and just shop online, that’s the most convenient situation for me to shop in. When I go into a store, on the other hand, I want to have an experience. For example, I like to buy my hiking boots at Globetrotter because I can try them out there. I can test them by walking over an artificial river or stones – that’s an experience for me.
I need an expert to help me, because I want my equipment to support my abilities in the best possible way. Modern retail technologies can also enable any store to be much more knowledgeable and digital interfaces can help advisory staff and ultimately customers to make the best purchasing decision.
This can then extend to nutritional support to achieve certain sporting goals or prevent illness. Or running diagnostics to provide technical support and advice in the store itself. Concepts such as an Apple Store show how modern retail can look and be very successful, in contrast to an ordinary store. I can also exchange money for goods online. I don’t need a physical store for that.
Almost 30% of respondents in the white paper want better tracking of health data. What impact is technology having on corporate health and the synergy between sport and health?
90% of people out there are wearing some kind of tracking device. But if we combine tracking with AI and some level of intelligence, I could imagine, for example, golf clubs with sensors that tell me if my swing is right and what I can improve.
At the same time, I could listen to the analyzed information via app and headphones and get helpful advice while I’m on the driving range. The same applies to tennis rackets, my booth and so on. So I don’t necessarily have to book a coach, which revolutionizes the accessibility of a sport.
Another important point: the analysis of data on such an individual level can offer me a very personal experience by tailoring each fitness program to my needs. These synergies are well illustrated by services and start-ups in the ISPO Brandnew area.
What do you think there will be at ISPO next year, for example, when it comes to these topics?
I think that technology is now much more trusted. Maybe five years ago, there was a lot more distrust towards digitalization, towards the use of AI. And now I don’t want to have 15 hubs to track my data. So there needs to be an overall connectivity provided by a health platform that helps me optimize myself.
I believe that more and more devices that traditionally come from the medical sector will find their way into the wellness and health market. We should not only be talking about people who belong to demographic groups that are very young and have a long customer life cycle, but especially age group 50 and older.
Longevity is one of the big trends that we will also address in the area of corporate health. People want to get older and stay healthy for longer. At the same time, we want our employees aged 55 and over to be in really good shape and therefore perform well at work, no matter how long they have to work.
Leadership plays a decisive role in the success of occupational health initiatives, so you need a kind of management buy-in for measures to work. That’s why I’m asking you as an expert: How can leaders effectively drive these programs?
One KPI that is often measured by managers is how sickness absence can be reduced. That plays into my productivity KPI. It’s simply about attendance at work. You’re either there or you’re sick or maybe you’re on vacation.
I don’t think that’s a good KPI. If you as a manager think about your favorite sports team or your favorite athlete, for example Andre Agassi at his best, then I don’t just want him to be on the pitch.
With athletes, it’s also about how successful they are on the pitch or how much passion they can show. It’s also about being able to go the extra mile.
So we also need to look at the deeper levels besides employer benefits or employer branding that enable managers to act. If you take your team, for example the marketing team at ISPO, and say: Let’s train together for a challenge. Let’s maybe do a company run or make sure we encourage each other to write a gratitude journal every day.
This allows you as a leader to lead on a completely different level. You can really define a goal and pursue it as a team that goes beyond your job. And then you get a new understanding of better team management.
Do you think we’ll see more consulting and more services to help leaders really internalize this idea of modern leadership?
I really hope so. One experience I’ve had from all the companies working in corporate health is how they’ve become experts in organizational change. But above all, I believe that responsibility should not be handed over to consultants. Health should be a trigger for me to take responsibility for myself. Just like we ask athletes to stand by their results.
Finally, do you have any final advice for exploring this occupational health market?
Definitely. Ask your employees what they need. That’s the easiest thing you can do. Just by asking them this question, you are already empowering them to think about it themselves and perhaps uncover hidden potential that exists.
Jan Küster makes it clear how central holistic health is becoming for corporate success and employee retention. ISPO 2025 will show how companies can strategically position themselves now in its new Health & Wellbeing Area. In direct proximity to the topics of training and performance, this area offers space for solutions relating to corporate health, mental strength, regeneration and prevention – and brings together brands, experts and decision-makers. Be there – from 30. NOV. – 02. DEZ. in Munich.
ISPO Munich will take place from 30. NOV. – 02. DEC. 2025 at the Trade Fair Center Messe München.
ISPO Munich will take place from 30. NOV. – 02. DEC. 2025 at the Trade Fair Center Messe München.