On January 12th, 2016, Mahaska celebrated being one of the employers in Mahaska County that is a Blue Zone Designated Worksite!
The Blue Zones Project is dedicated to helping towns become better places to live, work and play. Designation is one way to measure and reward the progress of various organizations that are achieving in your community. There are 4 designations available for organizations: Worksite, Restaurant, Grocery Store and School. Mahaska fell under the “Worksite” category, meaning Mahaska has exceeded the standards of empowering employees to be happier, healthier and more productive by creating healthier work environments.
There are 3 steps to become designated. First, there is a preliminary assessment that helps you evaluate your organization’s current well-being status. Once you finish the survey, you can select “Actions” that are most relevant to your organization or school. Then, the organization must commit to their Actions in other words, improvements to increase the overall well-being of their employees. In addition to completing the Actions, the organization must get a certain number of employees to sign the Blue Zones Project pledge or complete Actions in specific categories.
In designation, each Action has an assigned number of points. When you complete an Action, you earn its points which contribute to your organization’s designation and overall well-being. These Actions assist to long lasting benefits such as physical health, emotional health and social relationships.
In the process of becoming designated, Mahaska has committed to several improvements as an organization in hopes of increasing the long-term well-being of our employees. One of our Actions in further maintaining our Blue Zone designations is a bulletin board in our warehouse specifically dedicated to Blue Zone news featuring healthy recipes ideas and other health-inspiring activities.
Mahaska is very proud of this accomplishment and we are committed to improving our organization every day!
To learn more about Mahaska, view our history or contact us.