Pioneering Excellence

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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people in a meeting
Designing Sales Meetings That Drive Business Outcomes, Not Just Attendance
Annual sales meetings often represent one of the largest internal investments an organization makes each...
employee traveling
What Actually Drives a Successful Incentive Travel Program After 20 Years in the Field
Incentive travel has never been about the destination. That may sound surprising in an industry that...
employees working together
Sustainability Without Operational Discipline Is Just Messaging
Sustainability is now standard language in meetings and incentive travel. RFPs reference ESG commitments....

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Knowledge Center

Knowledge Center

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Blog

Think Globally, Act Locally

“Less than 6% of the world’s population speaks English well enough to conduct business…” Content Marketing Institute With statistics like the above influencing the state of the modern business world, organizations need to learn how to recognize and reward an increasingly diverse workforce. To keep employees motivated and engaged, we…

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Blog

Embrace Careers Without Boundaries

Are you still asking employees “Where do you see yourself in five years?” when they come to an interview? Are you disgruntled when their response suggests they may leave your company for new pastures? There’s no doubt that the way people work has changed due partly to the prevailing attitudes…

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people talking working together
Blog

Every Interaction Creates a Reaction

How many times have you given a message without considering how it will be received? Do you often communicate thinking that you just need to get the information off your chest? Think about the last email you sent or received; did you write the email with yours or the reader’s…

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two people talking
Blog

The Unwritten Rules of Employee Advocacy

Do your employees enjoy working for you? Are they publicly enthusiastic about being a part of your company? Are they telling their friends and family about the benefits of your services and/or products? Employees are your brand Did you answer yes to the first question above; did you hesitate at…

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Blog

The Power of Language and Communication in Recognition

How often have you approached someone and adjusted your language depending upon your perception of his or her hierarchical position in a store, restaurant or an organization? Did the conversation give you the result you expected or wanted? We do this often, sometimes without even realizing the changes we’ve made…

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person working looking stressed/angry
Blog

How to Handle “Radioactive” Employees

With Halloween just around the corner it’s time to take stock in what’s really scary. Ghosts and goblins? Not so much. Actively disengaged employees on the other hand? Yikes! When we talk about employee engagement, we usually focus on the positive side of the scenario: increased productivity, reduced attrition and…

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people collaborating working on a whiteboard
Blog

Why Many Companies are Re-evaluating Their Sales Comp Tactics

The sales process, along with the supporting personnel that aid it, has changed dramatically in recent years. Thanks to an abundance of information delivered through ubiquitous web-based technologies, the salesperson’s principle function has evolved from a purveyor of information to a value-added provider and resource coordinator. Consider these three ways…

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Blog

Autonomy: The First Step to Cultivating an Agile Company

Speed, performance, agility — the three go hand-in-hand. The best businesses are well aware that their customers hold them to two standards, to be fast and to be good. The smartest companies have also learned that being both requires an organization that is flexible, accommodating and agile. Agility is more…

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team in meeting working together
Blog

Want to Manage Change Across Sales Teams? Come to My Session.

Is your company reevaluating or restructuring its go-to-market strategy? Is it changing the way sales people approach customers and position solutions? As technology progresses and market forces shift, most companies are modifying their sales methods so they can more effectively address changing consumer tastes and evolving needs. If that sounds…

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person working hard at their desk
Blog

Can Emotional Intelligence be learned?

What is emotional intelligence and why has it become such an important topic for companies? Essentially, EI is an individual’s innate ability to recognize and manage their emotions and to also understand how their actions influence others. Companies looking to build workplaces defined by mutual respect put a premium on…

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Sustainability Without Operational Discipline Is Just Messaging
Sustainability is now standard language in meetings and incentive travel. RFPs reference ESG commitments. Hotels promote certifications. Destinations highlight environmental initiatives. Carbon calculators appear in proposals as a matter of course. This evolution is positive and necessary. However, the presence of sustainability language does not guarantee sustainable execution. There is an increasing gap between what is promised and what is operationally delivered.
Why Recognition Is the Most Powerful Tool to Protect High Performers
Organizations often treat recognition as a perk — something nice to have, something extra. But for high performers, recognition is not a perk. It is protection. High performers carry tremendous emotional and cognitive weight. They take on more work. They solve more problems. They mentor more peers. They generate more impact. And they do it all without asking for much in return. But every human has a tipping point. And without recognition, high performers hit theirs much faster.
The Myth of the Unbreakable High Performer
High performers are often described with an almost mythic quality: resilient, unstoppable, reliable, self-driven, limitless. They are the employees leaders depend on — the ones who say yes when others hesitate, who push harder, who deliver when the stakes are highest. But there’s a dangerous flaw embedded in this mythology: High performers are not unbreakable. They are simply quiet about the breaking. This misconception is costing organizations dearly.
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