myHR Archives
myHR: May 21, 2025
Gear Up for Employee Health and Wellness Month
In celebration of Employee Health and Wellness Month in June, Penn is offering many free events and programs that support your physical, mental, and financial well-being. It’s a great time to take a fresh look at workshops and activities Penn offers throughout the year.
There are more than 25 Employee Health and Wellness Month programs available, including new and unique events, to help you meet your individual goals and connect with others through a holistic approach.
Penn encourages you to use Employee Health and Wellness Month to reflect on your personal well-being and effective ways to support it. Consider taking one step in your wellness journey to a more healthy, vibrant you, both at home and work.
With so many wellness events to choose from, here’s a sample to preview before you register for those upcoming fitness and health programs that are right for you.
Try Free HR-Campus Recreation Group Fitness Classes
Circuit Training, June 3, 7:30 a.m.-8:15 a.m.
Move through a series of exercises targeting different muscle groups for a full-body workout that combines cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises.
Mat Pilates, June 21,12 p.m.-12:45 p.m.:
Want to see what mat Pilates is all about? This low-impact class, suitable for all fitness levels, focuses on strengthening your core, improving flexibility, and enhancing your overall body awareness.
Dance Cardio, June 24, 12 p.m.-12:45 p.m.
Join this high-energy class with easy-to-follow dance moves that get your heart pumping!
Financial and Physical Wellness at Home
Considering Home Ownership with PNC Bank, June 5, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
If you’re thinking about purchasing a home soon, join this workshop with PNC Bank to understand what to consider when making this major decision.
Get Fit Don’t Sit with Personify Health, June 10, 12:30 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Get creative on your journey to a healthier you. Learn alternatives to a variety of activities to save money and time, including body weight training, home exercise equipment, and online videos.
Wellness at Work
Feel, Do Not Fix: The New Essential Skill for Modern Work, June 10, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
This interactive workshop introduces the overlooked leadership skill of attunement—the ability to be present with someone’s emotional state in a way that fosters connection, clarity, and commitment. Learn how presence—not performance—can shift a conversation from tension to trust.
Wellness Walk, June 11, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
Penn’s monthly Wellness Walks are a regular campus favorite. For our special Health and Wellness Month walk, stroll along with the Penn Healthy You team, Campus Recreation, and Department of Finance Engagement Committee for a chance to revitalize your mind and body. Get outside for a midday break to reconnect with nature and colleagues.
Get Inspired
Beyond the wide variety of events offered in June, use Employee Health and Wellness Month to reflect on your personal well-being and effective ways to support it.
Penn offers a wide variety of wellness and work-life balance resources to support you along the way, including the Be in the Know annual wellness campaign.
For the complete Employee Health and Wellness Month list of events, visit the Human Resources event calendar. Register now and mark your calendars for these upcoming fitness, health, and well-being programs.
Financial Wellness and Mental Health
Periods of financial stress can take a toll on your mental health. That’s one reason why it’s important to have a financial plan that puts your current financial situation in context and maps out a path to increased financial stability. Take those first steps by attending the recent TIAA webinar, Financial Wellness and Mental Health: Insights from the TIAA Institute.
In this webinar, TIAA instructors examine the relationship between mental health and financial decisions to help you reach your goals.
Too many of us tend to wing it when it comes to spending, but that approach seldom leads to lasting financial wellness. The more productive approach is to create a budget, which is simply a spending plan. That goes a long way towards near-term financial wellness. When near-term finances become stable, there’s financial and mental room to incorporate longer-term financial stability into the plan.
There are many ways to make a budget. Take it a step at a time, and don’t let the plan become more complicated than you’re comfortable with. Many people have worked their way to financial wellness with simple budgeting approaches, like envelope budgeting. It may take a few pay periods to get situated with your budget, so be patient with yourself and don’t give up.
You don’t have to take your financial journey alone. There is help available, including financial literacy resources from places like your local library, bank, government agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, and reputable websites. Here at Penn, we have the partnership of our retirement plan provider, TIAA. You can read a TIAA article about financial wellness and mental health, and you can register for the Financial Wellness and Mental Health webinar.
For in-person help, you can schedule a one-on-one consultation with a TIAA retirement plan advisor. Consultations are confidential, without obligation, and at no cost to you. It’s a valuable opportunity for Penn employees, so please take advantage of it.
Deeper Breathing
Breathing is easy to take for granted as a natural part of life. The typical healthy adult does it 17,280 to 28,800 times a day, mostly without a thought. Whether we’re resting or hard at work, our bodies can adjust our breathing rate unconsciously to meet our needs for oxygen. However, when we do take time to breathe consciously, it has remarkable bonus effects, including stress and anxiety relief.
These research-backed benefits are covered in a recent Health Advocate blog post, Taking mindful breaks at work.
Mindful breaks can:
- Reduce stress and burnout. Without breaks, stress and burnout can build up. Mindful breaks allow your mind to reset, lowering stress and helping you return to work refreshed.
- Improve focus. Taking short, intentional breaks throughout the day can enhance focus and cognitive function, making it easier to stay productive.
- Enhance creativity. Mindfulness can spark creativity by giving your brain a moment to relax, which can lead to you having fresh ideas and solutions.
Ways to take a mindful break at work
- Take a short walk: A quick walk, whether inside or outside, refreshes your mind and body. As you walk, focus on your surroundings to help clear your mind.
- Practice deep breathing: Find a quiet spot and take a few deep breaths, inhaling slowly and exhaling through your mouth. This simple practice helps to calm your nervous system.
- Stretch or move gently: Stretching helps release physical tension. Try doing simple stretches or light yoga poses to relieve stiffness and refresh your body.
- Practice mindful listening or meditation: Listen to calming music or focus on your breath to clear your mind and reset.
- Step away from technology: Put your phone and computer aside for a few minutes. Disconnecting from screens helps your brain recharge and focus when you return to work.
Tips for making mindful breaks part of your routine
- Set a reminder: Schedule reminders to take breaks, even if it’s just for five minutes.
- Create a break space: Find a quiet area where you can relax and recharge.
- Be consistent: The more often you take mindful breaks, the more effective they’ll be.
To help you build your deep breathing and mindful movement practice, Penn offers 15-minute Micro Well-being Breaks on June 4 and June 17. These yoga-based sessions are designed to encourage refreshing pauses from your workspace with breath exercise and gentle stretches.
You can also find breathing technique information in the Penn Cobalt Resource Library and on Penn’s Personify Health wellness platform.
So, take a moment now, and in the future, to breathe deeper. See what it can do for you right away.
A Skills-Based Focus
Identifying your professional development goals is one step toward enhancing your current and future job performance. One way to think about professional development is to list your current workplace skills and cultivate and acquire new job skills.
Workday offers tools to help you track and focus on developing your professional and people skills. As you complete the performance review process in Workday, access your Workday career profile and consider adding information to take advantage of its skill development benefits.
For instructions on how to find and edit your career profile, view the Self-Service: Your Career Profile tip sheet.
A Broad View of Skills
According to Korn Ferry, a leading international organizational development firm, workplace skills can comprise technical abilities, behavioral competencies, and personal growth.
Technical Skills
Technical abilities are all about “how you do your job,” no matter what field you’re in. Some examples are project management, accounts payable operations, web design, copywriting, and Python programming.
You can keep track of your current skills and the skills that interest you by finding and entering them in your Workday career profile. Entering your skills in your Workday profile allows Workday to match them with potential training opportunities in Workday Learning and LinkedIn Learning. Workday tools like the Opportunity Graph, a part of your Workday career profile, also let you compare your skills with those in job profiles of interest.
Competencies
In Penn’s performance review framework, competencies are sets of observable and measurable skills and behaviors contributing to workplace effectiveness and career success. During staff performance reviews, you and your manager evaluate your proficiencies in various University-required and job-related competencies. The competencies rating scale takes your role into consideration, whether you are an entry-level worker, an individual contributor, a manager, or an executive.
For information on Penn's competencies and an online curriculum to support Penn staff and leaders in understanding and developing job-related competencies, view the Competencies page of the HR website.
Personal Growth
The final area that comprises your career skills is you – what motivates you, your goals in life, and what you value. Penn HR Talent Development offers a variety of resources to explore your talents, receive career coaching, and enhance your career growth.
Remember, the deadline for completing the year-end performance review process is Friday, June 13. While in Workday, looking at and augmenting your career profile could help you take positive steps in growing your Penn career.
Healthy Meals: Crispy Salmon Rice Bowl
This sweet and savory salmon bowl recipe from EatingWell is a delicious way to boost your protein and omega-3 intake without compromising on flavor. While it’s delicious alone, you can easily customize it with ingredients like mango, pineapple, or jalapeños to suit your taste. Think of this bowl as a nutritious, flavorful blank canvas ready for your favorite additions.
Click here to send us your healthy recipes and tips.
Ingredients
- 1-pound skinless center-cut salmon fillet, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup teriyaki glaze, preferably low sodium
- 2 cups of hot cooked brown rice
- 1 cup cooked shelled edamame
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1 medium avocado, sliced
- 2 tablespoons of Sriracha mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
- Position oven rack in upper third; preheat to 450°F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Toss salmon and sesame oil together on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until opaque on the outside, for about 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the broiler to High. Drizzle the salmon with teriyaki glaze and toss to coat. Broil until browned, crispy and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, stir rice, edamame and scallions together in a medium bowl; divide among 4 bowls.
- Divide cucumber and avocado among the bowls. Top with the salmon. Drizzle with the remaining glaze from the baking sheet and Sriracha mayonnaise. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.
Meet With a Registered Dietitian Today!
- One-on-one, virtual sessions you can schedule at any time that works for you
- 100% covered under many insurance plans
- Available to spouses and dependents
- Fill out the Ramp Health Nutrition Counseling Sign Up Form or call 800-484-7720.
Did You Know: Tuition Benefits System Opening for Fall Next Month
Penn’s Online Tuition Management System will open on June 1 for Fall 2025 term requests for you and your dependents. You can access the system and learn more about tuition benefits on HR’s tuition benefit web page. Be sure to submit fall term requests by November 15 to ensure timely payment.