Thorsten Quaas of Starkey: It’s always about people

After more than forty years at Starkey, Thorsten Quaas, Vice President of European Sales, still approaches his profession with the same curiosity. His career did not begin in one of the boardrooms, but in Starkey’s repair department. There, he discovered just how significant the impact of a hearing aid can be when someone relies on it every day to stay connected to the world around them. That sense of urgency remains one of his key daily motivations.

When Thorsten joined Starkey, hearing aid technology was still much simpler. Yet he soon realised that, for people, these were no ordinary devices. “When it doesn’t work, they miss out on something essential in their daily lives. That made repairs, for me, much more than just a technical matter right from the start”, he begins. “You want someone to be able to hear, communicate and participate again as quickly as possible. That’s really where it all began for me”. In the years that followed, Thorsten grew alongside Starkey. He witnessed the transition from analogue to digital hearing aids at first hand, helped a small production unit grow from forty to two hundred employees, and took on increasing managerial responsibilities.

Team builders

His career has also included difficult periods. When the market changed and Thorsten, as Managing Director for Germany, had to reorganise the business, he learnt just how important support, trust and caring for people are. “I’m convinced that leadership is certainly not about hierarchy or a job title. It’s about people who trust one another and take responsibility together. I always say: leadership isn’t a title, but a role. People don’t follow you because it says so on your business card, but because they believe in what you do. My job isn’t to provide all the answers myself. Quite the opposite. I often ask my team: what do you think? That gives people the space to find their own solutions, make mistakes, learn from them and grow stronger. In short, we don’t need to be heroes, but team builders”.

“Leadership is not a title, but a role”

 

Not the biggest, but the best

That team spirit is a key feature for him. “Starkey is a family business where people, innovation and the long term go hand in hand. We don’t necessarily want to be the biggest, but we do want to be the best”. He has experienced that mindset for years, and it is also what has kept him at Starkey. “It’s striking that new colleagues often notice this straight away, thanks to the way they’re welcomed and people’s willingness to help one another; even outside their own department”. According to Thorsten, this people-centred approach is also essential in the development of new technology. Starkey is investing heavily in AI, connectivity and solutions that take hearing aids beyond mere sound amplification.

Innovations are coming thick and fast. Yet speed is never an end in itself. Thorsten: “An innovation only reaches the market when it actually makes a difference to the user. After all, technology is only worthwhile if it improves someone’s life. Of course, we want to offer the best possible sound quality, especially in challenging listening situations. But we also want to help people stay connected: to their surroundings, their smartphone, the television and the people around them. That’s why we’re constantly looking at how we can do things a little better. Not because there’s a fixed cycle in which something new has to be released, but because we believe that an improvement only has value when it genuinely helps the patient”.

Indispensable link

In this vision, the independent hearing care professional remains an indispensable link. Thorsten sees the hearing care professional as the familiar face for clients in the region: the person who listens, advises and remains involved over the long term. Starkey aims to be a loyal partner in this regard, providing technology, service, knowledge-sharing and support for entrepreneurs who wish to further develop their practices.

Different perspective

Outside of work, Thorsten also likes to keep active. He builds his own road and gravel bikes and has discovered photography as a creative outlet. Both hobbies reflect his way of seeing the world: attentive, curious and always on the lookout for a different perspective. Because whether it’s about technology, leadership or growth, for Thorsten the core remains the same. It’s always about people.

www.starkey.com