Madison is a global leader in employee recognition and incentives, pioneering digital programs since 1995. As an employee-owned company, we deliver recognition, events, and incentive travel solutions that strengthen culture and drive results.
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J.K. Simmons won an Oscar for his portrayal of a negative band conductor in the movie Whiplash. I saw the flick last weekend and have no complaints there. His performance was first rate. I did, however, have a problem with one of the final scenes; the one where he says…
I wanted to thank everyone who came out to hear me speak at HR West last week. What a great group I had — smart, engaged and forward thinking. Everything the progressive HR community represents. My topic was Optimizing the Impact of Employee Recognition Strategies on Enterprise Performance, but it…
Today is employee appreciation day. A day set aside to show employees that you care about them, appreciate their efforts and value their contributions. Many businesses have events planned today, ranging from formal presentations in the auditorium to pizza parties in the break room. All of these gestures are good…
I’ve read and heard many good definitions of culture, most of them coming from the world of academia. Few, however, are written from an employee’s perspective. If HR leaders could hear what employees think about the world they work in (i.e. your company’s culture) they would pay more attention to…
Happy New Year everybody! From all of us at Madison may all of you in the HR and sales operations space have a happy and of course, a prosperous 2015! Notice I didn’t “wish” you a New Year? I purposely left out that word because wishes are hopes and we…
A recent blog posting on Blessing White entitled HR’s Role in Strategic Thinking, opens with this thought… “The keys to being a successful innovator have less to do with R&D process or the number of patents filed. Instead, what distinguishes innovative firms from the less-innovative ones are things like culture…
How can you get your managers — the very people who will be rewarding your employees and salespeople — more involved in using reward programs? Here’s a hint: Think about rewarding them. That’s right, reward the rewarders! The promises you are making throughout your communications — that using the reward…
We have all heard the term “enabler.” It’s someone who provides the means, environment or opportunity for another to continue bad habits. The term is most commonly used with those who partake in social vices. But what about a business? Can it, too, be an enabler, or more specifically a…
In the mid-sixties the term “generation gap” summarized all of the age-related conflicts that positioned young against old. Generation differences were big back then. They caused friction all through society. Along the way so many classic songs were written about it including The Who’s timeless anthem, “My Generation.” Fast-forward 50…
Businesses are always looking for an advantage. Often that comes in the way they utilize the various resources at their disposal to affect outcomes that are important to them. In just about any business model the most expensive (and most critical) business resource is compensation. It can account for a…
