Transportation Employee Engagement
The
Transportation Department has a multipronged approach to recognize employees.
Through our Employee Engagement Program, we help them to understand the impact
of their work in our community and facilitate understanding with the values we
hold collectively.
Annual Employee Survey Responses 2023
Transportation-Gives-Back Days
Each quarter, we offer events to give employees the
opportunity to step away from their regular day-to-day work and give back to
the Mesa community. This year, we’ve helped pack 1000 emergency food boxes at
the United Food Bank, painted the Family Center building at the House of
Refuge, and helped pack 70 boxes (15,120 meals) at
Feed My Starving Children. The last project of the 2022 at Foster360 turned out great and a few of employees
even got to meet some of the residents at the end. The team of volunteers
enjoyed learning about Foster360’s work and felt good about giving these kids a
fresh start in their homes before the holidays and new year.
We’ve had over 75 volunteers participate, with approximately 200 service hours given back to Mesa in 2022.
Training Opportunities
This March, some of our Field Operations staff took part in
a training class put on by the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)
presented by ADOT.
Staff took in a full day of classroom training on backhoe
operations and two full days of field training on the best practices for
operating this type of equipment. This training was an effort to assist our
senior operators and foreman with heavy equipment training for some of our
newer staff.
New Employee Kits
Items included – Drawstring bag with pockets and logo, safety vest, safety gloves, ear plugs, hand sanitizer, blue cooling towel with logo, gray microfiber cloth, COM Employee Values card, signed letter from RJ, and public transportation brochures (Traffic Calming, Maintaining Mesa’s Streets, Road Hazard Response, Monsoon Ready, Neighborhood Calming & Speed Control Measures, Pedestrian Safety, Storm Sandbag Pickup Locations postcard, Report Graffiti App card, Monsoon numbers magnet, Transportation Key numbers card).
Newsletters - Transportation Talk
Each month, we send a newsletter for the department
which includes important updates, highlights teamwork within the department,
and offers monthly safety tips. Recognition is also given to team members who participate in citywide events like Celebrate Mesa or Merry Main Street.
- March/April: Bike-Pedestrian Team
- April/May: Administration Team
- May/June: Traffic Engineering
"The
group was recently awarded the Safe
Streets and Roads for All grant by the US Department of
Transportation, which will allow thorough studies for safety improvements in
the future. This study will give our engineers the data to inform changes to
make Mesa safer for all roadway users. They've also worked to receive the Silver
award from the League of American Bicyclists,
putting Mesa on the map as a bike-friendly city.
This small team does a lot of good for our community each
year. "
"Did you know Transportation Administration Team does more than just answer phones and address requests from the public?
They also processes new and exiting employees, assist other transportation staff with projects, help with special events, and processes travel for the department. Behind the scenes, they also order supplies (uniforms, name plates, PPE bags, and more), maintain office equipment, track employee CDL’s, manage the Grainger machine, oversee cubicle reconfigurations, take meeting minutes, assist with interviews, reserve conference rooms, manage alley keys, oversee the STAR awards, and much more.
You could say this group is the backbone of our department."
"Over the last seven months, the Transportation Department, led by our Traffic Engineers, has converted seven intersections and traffic signals to make left turns safer.
“Left-turn related crashes are the most likely to result in serious injury collisions, and these projects are addressing very important traffic safety challenges,” said Ryan Hudson, Mesa’s City Traffic Engineer.
The specific locations were identified through a crash and traffic safety analysis led by the Traffic Studies Team, in coordination with Mesa PD, Fire, and Communications. These efforts have developed into Mesa's Road Safety Initiative focused on reducing fatal and serious injury crashes through data centered engineering, enforcement, and public outreach and education."
Word on the Street Lunch
Each quarter, we invite a small group of employees
that have been noted for their outstanding work in Transportation to lunch. The
idea is to have face-to-face time with the Director and Supervisor. It gives
the team an opportunity to be recognized for their efforts and allows the
leadership an opportunity to get feedback in a casual setting. In addition,
Transportation Department Director, RJ Zeder, periodically visits with
employees in their field of work and encourages supervisors to do so as well, to
better understand day-to-day tasks and challenges.
Birthday Cards
In addition to birthdays listed in the newsletter (Transportation Talk), supervisors are given cards signed by the Transportation Department Director for employees celebrating a birthday each month. This gives the supervisor the opportunity to have their teams sign and recognize each individual once a year. It’s one small way we aim to make people feel seen and valued on our team.