March 2019
Enabling Growth and Balance
Growth is our focus and engagement is our strength.
Auxin Group is a self-directed, professionally guided Career (Re)Engagment Development Program 
Our Team
Auxin Group Partners with Local Businesses for Women Worldwide

Auxin celebrated International Women’s Day (#IWD2019) this month and honored the theme, a balanced world is a better world , by partnering with several Lake Zurich businesses for a good cause. 
Anuyu Boutique and Zin GastroPub both donated 10% of their sales that day to Caring Women’s Connection , an organization that supports Lake County-based charities that serve local women and children and other community programs in need. 

Zin also donated 50% of sales from a special #IWD2019 cocktail. In addition, Auxin Group
and Salon Coccolé sponsored a drawing for everyone who participated in the day’s events. 

Congratulations to our three winners:

  • Natalie Weith won a gift basket from Salon Coccole´.
  • Susan Moore won a gift card for Anuyu Boutique donated by Auxin Group.
  • Molly Zidek won a gift card for Zin GastroPub donated by Auxin Group.

We are proud to say our efforts raised more than $500 for Caring Women’s Connection.

Susan Miller , Morgan HR Product Manager, organized this local effort to celebrate the worldwide event. “It was an honor to celebrate women with businesses in our local community who are committed to wellness and empowerment. Truly energizing,” she said.
Neil Morgan, Diana Lasiewicz, Jennifer Krause, Susan Miller and Alex Morgan celebrated International Women’s Day during lunch at Zin GastroPub.
Auxin Associates took time during a team call to celebrate International Women’s Day and show their enthusiasm for creating balance.
Auxin Group is always looking for great people.
Click here to let us know you are interested
or to refer candidates to our Talent Management Team.
Patty Adams: A Unique Perspective

It’s rare to find someone who relates to Auxin on so many levels:

  • Independently experienced her own career shift when she changed positions
  • Worked closely with Auxin’s founder and president, Laura Morgan
  • Satisfied customer of SimplyMerit (another branch of MorganHR, Inc.)
  • Considers hiring people who are returning to the workforce

However, Patty Adams fits all of these roles. 

Patty started her career in sales and administration, and after nearly 10 years, she decided to make the switch to human resources, but it wasn’t an easy transition.  She faced push back from colleagues who felt she was not qualified. “I was lucky I had a manager who supported my taking a wild leap,” said Patty. She enrolled in some courses, earned a master’s degree in HR, and found a mentor in Laura Morgan when they worked together at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. “Laura was tremendous. She taught me so much about compensation, the emotional component, and the organizational impacts,” Patty said.

When Laura launched MorganHR, Inc. and Auxin Group, Patty joined the company’s advisory board. It's a partnership that has opened her eyes to the unique challenges of career engagement. Patty is now the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration at Aptinyx, Inc. and and says this awareness helps her focus on each individual's real skills, talents, and interests. Additionally, she says Auxin Associates are at an advantage because their time spent in this re-engagement program demonstrates more than just a commitment to sharpening skills. “It’s about your mindset and what motivates you. The exposure to different projects and tasks speaks to your versatility.”

Additionally, Patty is an extremely satisfied customer of SimplyMerit , a tool that streamlines the merit cycle. “I’ll never forget when Laura told me I would get my holidays back,” she said. “To have a tool that makes you more efficient and more accurate is wonderful.”

Clearly this is a partnership and friendship that has benefited everyone.
Delighting managers with technology to make consistent, equitable,
and data-driven pay decisions. Learn more at www.simplymerit.com
and start your free trial now.
Learning & Development
Emotional Intelligence: A Critical Skill

Forget the fancy degree, big job, and corner office. Did you know the real key to success is emotional intelligence?

During a recent Auxin program, Laurie Wessels , an expert in leadership development and executive coaching, explained that 90% of success comes from emotional intelligence (E.I.) “Being right is insufficient for being effective,” she said, “and if you are not communicating, you are not being effective.” The good news is that it’s a skill that can be taught.
Wessels presented The E.I. Model which is made up of four components:

  • Self-awareness: understanding your own thoughts and feelings
  • Self-management: using good self-care practices to regulate your thoughts and feelings
  • Social awareness: ability to sense the emotional experience of others and understanding their perspective
  • Relationship management: working to build relationships and giving people a reason to like you

She also shared some tips on building these skills:

  • Watch out for emotional hijacking when out-of-control emotions can make smart people stupid. Then choose how to respond rather than reacting.
  • Be humble. Set your own feelings aside in order to understand others.
  • Practice self-talk, rehearse in a safe environment, and ask for help.

We all know emotions play a part in every interaction. By managing your emotions, you will connect more with others and improve how people respond to you.
Ann Wayne
Learning a New Way to Cook:
The Instant Pot

If it seems like everyone you know is talking about the Instant Pot, it’s not your imagination. It truly has become the hottest kitchen appliance. Its official Facebook group has more than 1.8 million members and growing. On Prime Day 2018, Amazon sold more than 300,000 instapots. The internet is overflowing with instapot recipes. So, in keeping with Auxin’s focus on Wellness, we decided to find out what the hype is all about.

During a virtual session, Ann Wayne , a Lake Zurich cook and business woman, hosted a class on the ins and outs of the instapot. She demonstrated three recipes while those of us at home followed along. It was a great way to have some fun together and literally blow off some steam. (For those instapot newbies out there, releasing the pressure on the pot and watching the steam pour out is actually part of the cooking process.)

You can follow Ann on Instagram @whimsicalann .
Inside Out Egg Rolls
Inside Out Egg Rolls in the Instant Pot
By Ann Wayne

1 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
1 lb ground turkey, pork, or any meat
1/4 t Chinese 5 spice
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, shredded
1/2 c water
1/8 c tamari, low-sodium
1 bag pre-shredded coleslaw mix
salt & pepper to taste
Turn Instant Pot on to saute, wait until it's hot, and then add oil and meat. Brown the meat. Add Chinese 5 spice, garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant. Stir with wooden spoon to avoid burning. Turn off Instant Pot, add water and tamari, stir. Pour shredded coleslaw mix on top. Cover and cook on high pressure for "0" minutes. (Yes, 0 minutes is totally a thing.) Quick release and stir to combine. Serve with crispy wonton wrappers and scallions.
Join Auxin’s Speaker’s Bureau

Our Learning and Development program covers a wide range of topics related to career 
re-engagement as well as growth and balance. Currently, we are looking for presenters to discuss:

  • Leadership
  • Networking
Don’t miss this opportunity to:

  • Spread your message
  • Present your program
  • Get some feedback
  • Build your network

Let us know what you have to offer by emailing Kelly Greffin , Auxin Engagement Director. 

We’d love to put you on our calendar!
Coming up in April:
The DiSC® model

If you’re looking to improve how effectively you work on a team, this is the program for you. You’ll answer a series of questions that will produce your own DiSC® report about your personality and behavior.

You’ll learn:

  • How this tool can help you understand behavioral differences in others
  • How to respond to conflict
  • Tips on working with others who are both similar and different.

Join us April 9th at 9:30am!
Visit our events calendar to sign up for this program and learn about others.
Our clients are welcome to attend our programs and workshops.
We hope you will join us!
Client Projects
Is Auxin Group Right for Your Project?

If your next business problem has you scratching your head, perhaps a team of Auxin Group Consultants can help. 

Our consultants are:

  • Driven to take on your challenge and deliver solutions
  • Creative, strategic thinkers who know how to collaborate and communicate
  • Connected with and trained to utilize modern tools and resources
  • Motivated to (re)establish their credentials as results-oriented achievers
  • Organized and efficient

We will take your project from beginning to end and present a conclusion that is guaranteed to impress.
 Auxin Group is an “on-hand” team of multi-skilled and motivated specialists
who have flexible schedules, experience, knowledge
and collaborative tools to get the job done quickly.
On Laura’s Mind...
Secret Sauce Revealed

I’m about to let you in on our recipe for success. These magic ingredients are the reason people come to Auxin when they are ready to re-engage in their careers after taking time off from the all-in workforce. Before I reveal the details, let’s review why going back to work is daunting. Technology has changed. Skills become rusty. Confidence lags. Where do you even begin? I humbly suggest you try our secret sauce.

We start with an extensive learning and development program, and then we mix-in real opportunities to test those newly sharpened skills on a variety of projects .  Seems simple, right? Take a few classes, work on a couple of projects, and voilá... a re-trained employee. However, we all know it’s not that easy. It takes time, dedication, and hard work to re-enter the modern workforce. Our associates consistently step beyond their comfort zone, take risks, and give and receive feedback. The learning is embedded in each and every experience whether it’s attending a workshop, leading a project, or completing an assigned task.

For instance, during the last few months, we’ve offered sessions on Excel, building collaborative teams, and emotional intelligence. At the same time, our associates are working on a variety of projects, both internal and external. I see how they are learning to work together, in most cases virtually, while using modern tools, juggling various schedules and tackling new challenges.

The outcomes are often quite impressive as our associates grow new skills, polish old ones, rebuild their confidence, redefine their goals, and ultimately re-engage in the workforce. 

I believe this simple philosophy clearly explains why this works:

  • Tell them, they will forget.
  • Show them, they will remember.
  • Involve them, they will understand.

Feel free to pass on this message to anyone you know who’s ready to get cooking and jump back into the workforce. We are happy to share this recipe.

Laura Morgan is the Founder/President of Auxin Group. Her 30-year career in Human Resource Management has taught her to embrace growth and balance. Her recipe is simple: work, volunteer and play. She launched Auxin Group to teach others to do the same.
Meet Auxin Monday
Connect with Laura on Mondays at 4pm to learn more about Auxin and find out how it can help you reach your goals.
Join her Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/787243487
Auxin Group, a division of MorganHR, is a unique benefit program that provides relevant training and collaborative project-based experiences to encourage ongoing growth and development.