Professional and Personal Development Programs

Open to faculty and staff. Register at http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu/.

Tools for Career Assessment and Development; 10/7; 12:30-1:30 p.m. In this program we will examine questions for assessing and developing your career. You will contrast your career options by utilizing a variety of tools. By the end of the session you will have the resources needed to develop a plan for career success.

Develop Your Presentation Skills; 10/13; 12:30-1:30 p.m. Fear. That’s the main reason most people won’t make presentations—or make them poorly. By following some simple lessons anyone can conquer presentation phobia and go on to make his or her case successfully and professionally.

Virtual Training 101; 10/21; 12:30-1:30 p.m. Using our training structure roadmap, we will take a look at how to prepare and execute a virtual training. We will examine the phases of training and how those are structured for a virtual training, how to reformat course activities and communication to participants, tips for using video platforms, and best practices for facilitating your course.

Creating and Maintaining Your LinkedIn Profile; 10/26; 12:30-1:30 p.m. a review of tips on creating a great LinkedIn profile that will get you noticed by recruiters and industry professionals.   

TED Talk Tuesday: How to Manage for Collective Creativity; 10/27; 12:30-1:30 p.m. What’s the secret to unlocking the creativity hidden inside your daily work, and giving every great idea a chance? Harvard professor Linda Hill, co-author of Collective Genius, has studied some of the world’s most creative companies to come up with a set of tools and tactics to keep great ideas flowing—from everyone in the company, not just the designated creatives.

Effectively Communicating in the Workplace 10/29; 12:30-1:30 p.m. You are supervising or managing other employees and feel the need to learn more about how to prepare for and conduct performance appraisals. Join us to find out best practices for this important annual procedure.   

Work-life Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Flexible Work Options; 10/1; 11 a.m.-noon. Flexible work options offer creative approaches to successfully complete work while maintaining balance between work and personal commitments. Currently, the majority of Penn staff and faculty are working remotely while maintaining availability during core work hours. Learn how you can incorporate flexible work going forward, focus on a mutually beneficial outcome, make the business case for your flexible work proposal, and honor your work-life boundaries. This presentation will provide an overview of flexible work options and provide guidelines for proposing and implementing a flex request including: understanding the applicable HR guidelines and policies, assessing the fit between position and job responsibilities, reviewing a sample proposal, documenting the flexible work option request, and implementing the request.

New and Expectant Parent Briefing; 10/8; 12:30-1:30 p.m. This is an introductory resource briefing designed for expectant parents and those who are new to parenting or childcare. Participants will learn about local and University childcare and parenting resources including the lactation program, childcare locators, back-up care, adjusting to new schedules, flexible work options, among other topics. This session will also cover Penn’s time away from work policies including short-term disability (STD), parental leave, and related sick leave policies.

How to Write a Models of Excellence Nomination; 10/13; 12:30-1:30 p.m. Do you work with someone who shows special initiative or demonstrates outstanding leadership? Have you noticed that a colleague or team excels at fostering workplace collaboration or shows an especially deep commitment to service? If so, then recognize them as a Model of Excellence. The Selection Committee depends on the content of the nominations to make its decisions. Therefore, nominations submitted should be as detailed and descriptive as possible in order to convey a nominee’s exceptional performance. Be sure to attend this workshop and learn about how best to write your nomination and obtain some tips on doing so!

Strategies for Managing Stress and Avoiding Burnout; 10/15; 12:30-1:30 p.m. It is natural to become stressed when the demands on time and energy have become too great. This can happen both at home and at work and can severely limit productivity and effectiveness. This workshop shows the physiological stages of stress development, and its harmful effects on the body. It also addresses the defining symptoms and different sources of stress. This useful information is incorporated with helpful stress relievers and imagery techniques.

Penn Healthy You Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Vinyasa Yoga; 10/1, 10/13, 10/29; noon-1 p.m. A unique sequence of postures aimed at strengthening the mind-body connection. Its hallmark is the emphasis on the connection between breath and body. With roots in multiple forms of classic yoga—including ashtanga vinyasa yoga—this class will allow you to stretch and strengthen your body and clarify your mind. This method encourages vitality, strength, and healing as we work with the body as a whole. No previous experience or knowledge of yoga is required.

Parents’ Guide to Kids and Money—Toddlers to Teens; 10/8; noon-1 p.m. For many of us, as children, discussing money was off-limits. Questions were ignored or received vague incomplete answers. But times have changed. Today you need to teach your kids good money habits and how to make sound spending, saving, and investing decisions.  In this complimentary workshop you will learn about:

• What’s the best age to have the first “money” talk with your child
• How can you encourage saving, spending and giving wisely
• When and how should you introduce investing, budgeting and credit cards    

Chair Yoga; 10/21; noon-1 p.m. Plenty of people turn to yoga for exercise, but striking a pose isn’t for everyone. If you’ve been tempted to try it but don’t know where to start, it’s time to try chair yoga. Chair yoga is a more moderate form of yoga that’s done while sitting in a chair or using a chair for support. You get the same benefits of a regular yoga workout (like increased strength, flexibility, and balance) but don’t have to master complex poses. Chair yoga can even better your breathing and teach you how to relax your mind and improve your wellbeing. And don’t worry about your experience or flexibility—chair yoga can be modified for all levels!

HITT Strength; 10/23; noon-1 p.m. a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout! Each session  will be a different sequence of exercises, with a focus on strength training. This workout will be a full-body blast, guaranteed to leave you sweating!

The Role of Social Security in Your Retirement Income Strategy; 10/28; noon-1 p.m. This seminar identifies the current rules surrounding Social Security, as well as specific collection strategies geared towards helping you make the most of your benefits.

PENN New Wellness Program and Virgin Pulse Live Platform Demonstration; 10/29; noon-1 p.m. During the demonstration, Virgin Pulse Client Success Manager Emma Doyle will walk participants through many aspects of the platform, showing you how to:

• Enroll and set up your Virgin Pulse account.
• Create your user profile.
• Review the dashboard page, including daily cards and support options.
• Explore Virgin Pulse programs, including challenges, tracking options, Journeys, and more.
• Review Be in the Know campaign activities, including the Health Check and Bonus Actions.
• Fill out Attestation Forms to get credit for certain completed Bonus Actions.
• Create a personal challenge.
• Connect devices and apps that sync.

There will also be a Q&A section at the end of the demonstration in which participants can submit questions via the chat feature.   

—Division of Human Resources