Legal and General implements staff exercise initiative

LegalandGeneral-Building-2013

Legal and General is encouraging employees to exercise by introducing a ‘calorie burn’ smart-sign system to its office stairs.

The financial services firm has designed the health initiative, provided by StepJockey, as a way to get employees to use the stairs instead of lifts.

It has marked each stairway with a calorie rating, which also allows employees to track and gamify their performance using smartphones.

The scheme has been fitted inside Legal and General’s London and Kingswood offices.

Legal and General is the first financial services firm to use the scheme, an initiative which is back by the Department of Health.

Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal and General, said: “This is a disarmingly simple but powerful initiative that encourages exercise as well as reducing carbon emissions.

“We strive to be one of Britain’s healthiest companies and with the launch of this initiative two of our buildings have now become two of the healthiest.”

Elaine MacLean, group human resources director at Legal and General, added: “We take the health of our staff very seriously and labelling the physical environment to incentivise exercise is an obvious and sustainable way forward.

“Traditionally, people see taking the stairs as a bit of a chore, but by highlighting the benefits, employees are gently nudged into a more active routine which can bring profound health benefits over time.”