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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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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Leadership

Knowledge Center

Knowledge Center

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Blog

Maestro and “Team Member Excellence”

One of the leading growth priorities for today’s CEO revolves around what some call “team member excellence.” That’s a level of talent performance that’s optimized across the entire enterprise. Something that’s made possible through outstanding people practices inducing programs that impact everything from recruitment to retention. Reward strategies are a…

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Blog

Make More Recognition Your New Year’s Resolution

A few years ago, when the economy was in a deep recession, I wrote a white paper that argued (with passion and purpose) that recognition still mattered. It presented the case for ramping up (and not reducing) employee recognition. My thesis was simple: companies who took the attitude that their…

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Blog

Turn Employees From “Satisfied” to Truly “Happy”

What makes an employee happy? We talk a lot about recognition in this blog — being appreciated for what you do by the people you do it with. And while consistent recognition is the key to keeping an employee satisfied, it’s what people feel as they are being recognized that…

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Blog

Talkin’ to Those Generations

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…

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Blog

Groundhog Day (for Employees) No More

Ok, so the real Groundhog Day is behind us. Punxsutawney Phil, that clairvoyant groundhog, saw his shadow. Groundhog Day has come to mean more than a longer winter or an early spring. Since Bill Murray turned the notion of Groundhog Day into a repetitive existence, more people associate it to…

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Blog

Taking “Fake News” Out of the Workplace

“Fake news” has been all over the “real news” lately. Some people are deliberately publishing hoaxes or circulating conspiracy theories (and other forms of disinformation) to advance their agendas. Fake news has damaging consequences. It can erode perceptions of reality. A constant stream of it can challenge the truth and/or…

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Blog

Don’t Ask Alexa, Ask Us

Who is Alexa? Or should I ask, what is she? Alexa is the digital assistant inside Amazon’s new voice activated smart speaker called the Echo system. You can ask it to do a lot of different things such as play music, update you on the news, tell you about the…

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Blog

Are You Naughty or Nice? (As a Boss That Is)

The quality of bosses (and the impact they have on their employees) is the biggest influence on organizational performance. Lousy bosses create confusion and stress; they contribute to higher turnover and lower productivity. When employees leave a company they often cite poor relationships with their superiors. On the other hand…

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Blog

No Debating the Value of Employee Recognition

After three contentious presidential debates (not to mention numerous clashes throughout the primary season), we can all finally agree on one thing — we are sick and tired of debates! Fortunately, there is no debating the value of employee recognition. Organizations that consistently recognize their workers have higher levels of…

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When Engagement Breaks, It Breaks in Silence
Disengagement spreads quietly. It moves through tone, energy, and unspoken norms — not through dashboards or spreadsheets. That’s why many organizations don’t catch it until productivity, collaboration, and morale have already slipped. In our new white paper, The Disengagement Domino Effect, we explored how disengagement spreads emotionally before it spreads behaviorally. The good news: the same is true for re-engagement.
Spot the First Domino: Early Warning Signs Your Team Is Quietly Disengaging
Most leaders wait until disengagement is obvious: declining performance, missed deadlines, or increased conflict. But by then, the damage is already done. The first domino falls long before performance metrics change. In our newest white paper, The Disengagement Domino Effect, we outline how disengagement follows a predictable pattern — and how leaders can spot it months before it becomes costly.
The Most Dangerous Cultural Shift Is the One You Don’t See
Every leader worries about burnout or turnover. But the more immediate threat isn’t the person who leaves — it’s the person who mentally checks out but continues showing up. This shift is subtle. A camera turns off. Ideas dry up. A once-energized employee becomes emotionally muted. And at first, nothing seems wrong.
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