The City of Mesa has received special recognition for its Beat the Boss Challenge at the 14th annual Health at Work Awards, sponsored by ComPsych, honoring organizations which promote employee health and wellness. Winners were selected based on their wellness program's comprehensiveness, delivery, promotion, participation rates and results achieved.
Mesa received ComPsych's Fitness Challenge Award for the Beat the Boss Challenge introduced in 2018 for City employees to engage in physical activity. The three-week challenge featured City Manager Chris Brady as the person to "beat" in daily steps. Employees tracked their steps on fitness devices synced to the City's Mesa Wellness 360 Portal. Approximately 500 employees participated in this engaging challenge and 73 employees beat the City Manager. The Fitness Challenge Award recognizes Mesa as the employer with the most innovative program for getting and staying in shape.
"The 'Beat the Boss Challenge' was fun for City employees and me and gave everyone an incentive to improve their well being. This year's event has everyone looking forward to next year's 'Beat the Boss' opportunity," City Manager Chris Brady said.
The City of Mesa established its wellness initiative in 2014 with the opening of a Health and Wellness Center which has provided services to more than 10,500 City employees and dependents on the City's medical plan. The City's Health and Wellness Program, called Mesa Wellness 360, was launched in 2017 and provides health education, disease management programs, health coaching and wellness and fitness contests.
In addition to ComPsych's Fitness Challenge Award, the City received the American Heart Association's Silver Award for Mesa Wellness 360. The Wellness Council of Arizona is also recognizing the City's Wellness Program with its Process and Leadership Award and Nicole Stec, City of Mesa's Employee Health and Wellness Manager, with its Senior Leadership Award for implementing and expanding the City's Wellness Program and Wellness Center services.
"The recent awards should be shared by Mesa City Council and City management, who recognize the importance of health awareness and have taken action to make it a priority for our employees. The increased participation by employees in our health education programs and activities proves it is important to them as well," Employee Health and Wellness Manager Nicole Stec said.
During the 2017/2018 fiscal year, 120 health and wellness classes were offered to City employees with over 1,900 employees participating. In addition, more than 1,700 health screenings were completed by City employees and the wellness program had 11,651 employees participate in its activities, which is an over 30% increase from the previous fiscal year's participation in the wellness program.
Public Information and Communications
Contact: Steve Wright
Tel. 480-644-2069
steven.wright@mesaaz.gov