As the new Human Resource Manager of Madison Apartment Group (Madison), Megan Hall is responsible for the management and oversight of the company’s employee relations, payroll, performance management, benefits and leave administration, safety programs and organizational planning. This week, we caught up with Madison’s newest professional to get her thoughts on her new role, vision for the future and how she enjoys spending her free time.

Can you tell us a little about your role and responsibilities as the new Human Resources Manager of Madison Apartment Group?

As the new Human Resources Manager, my responsibilities will include providing human resources leadership and expertise in employee relations, payroll, performance management, benefit and leave administration, safety programs and organization planning. Most importantly, I will be partnering with senior management to ensure that the strategic human resource goals, policies, training, communication, succession plans and programs are all aligned with Madison’s mission to provide a fun and dynamic workplace for its community management teams.

What attracted to you to Madison Apartment Group?

Originally, I was attracted to the company because I have never worked in the multifamily industry and was impressed with the national presence and portfolio of Madison. I look forward to working with Dean and the entire senior management team to realize the company’s goal of creating a top tier human resources department for the growth and development of all the team members at Madison.

How does your previous experience help you in your new role?

In my previous roles, I have successfully implemented and delivered training for new programs including on boarding, harassment at work, annual performance reviews, 401K plans, open enrollment and other special programs. Furthermore, I have implemented best hiring practices such as sourcing and screening candidates, structured behavioral interviewing and background and screening testing. I strongly believe that all of this experience will allow me to further develop human resource leadership and support for Madison’s team members throughout the country.

What are your goals in your new role for Madison Apartment Group over the next year? Five years?

My goal for the first year is to master the day to day management of the human resources department while creating new programs and initiatives to be launched in the next few years. My long term goal is to develop the ability to measure the success and outcomes of these new programs in order to introduce new improvements for them. Further, I look forward to becoming a key partner in the management and success of the company.

Is there anything else that you would Madison team members to know about you?

During the past eight years, I have become a strategic human resources business partner specializing in recruitment, retention and management. I look forward to effectively communicating and offering resources to the entire Madison team.

Can you tell us a little more about yourself including what your enjoy doing outside of the office?

I am local to the Philadelphia area and graduated from Saint Joseph’s University. In my free time, I spend time my family, friends and our dog. I enjoy traveling and most recently went to London with my husband. I love food, dining out and baking and cooking. I like to stay active and run to keep fit.

On April 5, 2012, Madison Apartment Group competed in the Apartment Association of Central Pennsylvania’s Maintenance Mania® which was held at the Best Western Hotel & Conference Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The competition pitted 60 maintenance team members from four area multifamily management companies against each other in eight maintenance related challenges, designed to test their skills and knowledge and earn them a chance to grab the title Maintenance Mania National Champion. The maintenance team member with the quickest time in each event was awarded a $50 gift card. Prizes were also awarded to the maintenance team members with the top three quickest overall times and included $100 for 1st Place, $75 for 2nd Place and $50 for 3rd Place.

The following maintenance team members from Madison’s Pennsylvania communities represented the company in the Maintenance Mania event. Two earned top prizes. Madison at Dogwood and Madison at Logan West’s Aaron Dodsworth skills and speed earned him the 3rd Place in the quickest overall time while Madison at Hershey Height’s Charlie Smith grabbed 1st Place in the GE Appliance Repair event. Congratulations!

• Mark Coons, Madison at Society Hill
• Jason Gleiter, Madison at Hunt Club
• Thomas Herring, Madison at Montgomery
• Mike Bernade, Madison at Exton Crossing
• Kenny Block,Madison at Wynnewood Park
• Rich Pizarro, Madison at Macungie Village
• Rick Omick, Madison at Cedar Glen
• Jason Lake, Madison at Victoria Crossing and Madison at Woodland Plaza
• Michael Shaw, Madison at Exeter
• Charlie Smith, Madison at Hershey Heights
• William Benzel, Madison at Valley Manor
• Al Lezzi, Madison at Reed Farm
• Myrl Coons, Madison at Hamilton Park
• Javier Torres, Madison at Greenview Terrace
• Aaron Dodworth, Madison at Dogwood and Madison at Logan West
• Tracy Meir, Madison at Barrcrest Manor
• John Keilman, Madison at Westridge Garden
• Ryan Haring, Madison at Willowyck

Madison also earned the 2012 Maintenance Mania Team Spirit Award. Thanks to the 16 Madison team members who came out to cheer on their maintenance team members including Divisional Vice President Ann Marie Niklaus, Regional Property Managers Jeremy Devlin and Christine Murray, Senior Community Director, Toni Stockdale and Regional Marketing Coordinator, Kristen Troxell. In addition, Maureena Nichols and Marlena Umbenhauer from Madison at Hershey Heights, Jason Adams from Madison at Valley Manor, Tiffany Felker from Madison at Society Hill, Lauren Roth from Madison at Macungie Village, Jessica Givens from Hamilton Park, Nancy Miller from Madison at Greenview Terrace, Laura Appleman from Madison at Victoria Crossing and Matt Mengel from Madison at Reed Farm proudly supported their fellow team members at the event.

Maintenance Mania is a national competition where maintenance technicians compete against each other in skill-based games built around common maintenance activities. The competition includes a pinewood derby style car race where the cars are made out of maintenance supplies. NAA affiliates host Maintenance Mania® events across the country to recognize maintenance technicians with awards, prizes and bragging rights. Winners from each local event get a chance to qualify for a spot at the National Championship held at the annual National Apartment Association Education Conference & Exposition.

At Madison, we strive to continuously improve our company and communities across the United States by creating constant two-way communications between our executive and community team members.

In September 2011, we created a Directors Advisory Panel to give our Community Directors a voice in the company’s affairs, particularly in matters affecting Madison’s communities. Today, we are proud to announce that we have created a Service Directors Advisory Panel to give our Service Directors a voice in the direction and management of our communities.

The inaugural 2012-2013 Service Directors Advisory Panel will work directly with Madison’s senior management to generate innovative ideas, initiatives and feedback for improving maintenance processes at the property level as well as evaluating proposed changes or pressing issues affecting the maintenance of the communities and the apartment homes.

Members of the 2012 – 2013 Service Directors Advisory Panel include:

• William Riley, Madison Vinings Ridge - North Carolina and Georgia Region
• Leonardo Medina, Madison at Carrington Place – Florida Region
• Larry Ellerbe, Madison at Wood View - Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Michigan Region
• Joe Camasto, Madison at Ridgetop - Oregon, Utah and Washington Region
• Jason Olweiller, Madison at Village Green – Pennsylvania Region
• Freeman Faulkner, Madison at Cypress Lakes - Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee Region
• Shawn Dailey, Madison at Green Valley/Parktowne Homes – Pennsylvania Region
• Juan Garcia, The Crossings at Allen Square – Texas Region
• Al Izzei, Madison at Reed Farm – Pennsylvania and Connecticut Region

Appointed by Regional Leadership to serve 12-24 month terms, the Service Directors Advisory Panel members are selected based on their excellent personal communication skills, exceptional customer service, strong leadership ability, management expertise and understanding of Madison’s guiding principles. We congratulate them and look forward to their future successes.

At Madison Apartment Group, we’re committed to providing our residents with a quality living environment and outstanding service. To further enhance our customer service, we’re now partnering with Level One, a leading on-demand call center, to provide our residents with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access to a live customer service representative to submit service requests, report a maintenance emergency or to inquire about apartment availability.

“A repeated comment on our ongoing resident surveys was that our residents wanted to speak to someone directly when they were experiencing a maintenance issue in their apartment home, “ commented Dean Holmes, chief operating officer of Madison. “Based on this feedback, we decided to partner with a responsive and highly regarded call center to allow our residents to speak to a live representative at their convenience.”

During normal hours, Madison’s residents may still speak to their community’s office team. However, if the office team is unable to answer the phone, the call will be redirected to the Level One call center. The residents will be asked to provide information on their service request or maintenance emergency. After normal business hours, all service request calls will be directed to the call center, where a representative will ask the resident a series of questions to gather information on the nature of the request. This information will be entered directly into our system so that our maintenance team can respond to the resident’s request more promptly and effectively.

Madison’s residents can continue to submit their service requests online through Madison’s online resident portal which is mobile friendly and even accessible through the company’s and each individual community’s Facebook Fan Page.

Level One is also providing support to Madison’s leasing staff so people can get information and schedule a tour 24/7 as well either online or by phone.

Madison Apartment Group is pleased to announce that Carrie Pistone has been promoted to Pricing Coordinator, a new position created in conjunction with the company’s adoption of Yieldstar, a leading revenue management program. In this role, Carrie will be responsible for communicating daily with the company’s community directors regarding the acceptance of their pricing. She will also be assisting Suzanne Smith, Director of Revenue Management, with Yieldstar training for Madison’s team members throughout the United States.

“As we work to enhance our field training capability at Madison, Carrie was an ideal candidate for this newly created position,” explained Dean Holmes, Chief Operating Officer of Madison. “Since joining us in 2008, she consistently exceeded expectations and has become a valued member of the Madison team. She is well respected by both her peers and senior management for her attention to detail, strong leadership goals and commitment to excellence. She will be a fantastic addition to our revenue management and training groups.”

Over the past four years, Carrie has been the Community Director at Madison Vinings Ridge, a 494 unit apartment community in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. Under her leadership, Madison Vinings Ridge underwent a significant capital improvement program that included renovations and upgrades to the apartment homes as well as exterior improvements and enhancements to the amenities and services. As a result, the community now enjoys an increased occupancy rate and has earned a reputation for providing an exceptional living experience for its residents.

As a Community Directory, Carrie enjoyed working with the entire community team. She explains, “It has been great to see them employ the tools I have given them to excel in their respective positions. I have had an excellent experience overseeing the entire team and completing the renovation at the community.”

Carrie believes that Madison’s attention to its team members and residents makes it different from other apartment management companies. “Madison takes pride in developing and caring for both its team members and residents,” she commented.

One thing she would like Madison’s residents to know is that the company is always striving to improve its communities by listening to suggestions from its residents. She explains, “We would like our residents to complete the Satisfacts’ surveys truthfully so we can continue to improve their community and living experience.”

Carrie is an active member in the Atlanta Apartment Association. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their three sons and two shih tzus.

As a Divisional Vice President, Scott is responsible for overseeing the management of 28 communities in the Southeast for Madison Apartment Group. In this role, he works closely with four regional property managers to manage the company’s operations and team members in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Missouri. He recently joined Madison from Berkshire Property Advisors, where he was responsible for operations in the Southeast.

Already in his short tenure, Scott has been impressed by the Madison’s team members throughout the Southeast. He explains, “From the communities I have visited so far, I have witnessed very engaged associates that are very proud of their communities and their company.” He firmly believes that all team members add value to the value to the company and communities and is looking forward to working closely with them to remove barriers and help them achieve their best performance.

According to Scott, helping each community achieve and exceed their budgeted goals is one of his most important challenges he has as a divisional vice president. He understands that having the best people in the industry is critical in achieving these goals. To that end, Scott will continue to relentlessly recruit while growing and challenging the current team members to be the best they can be for themselves and Madison.

Scott also looks forward to bringing his knowledge and expertise in customer service to expand and improve Madison’s resident services programs.

Currently, he serves as president of the Lorings Square Homeowners Association and is an active member of the Atlanta Apartment Association. When he is not working or participating in industry events, Scott enjoys spending time with his wife and two Jack Russell Terriers in his home near Atlanta, Georgia. He also enjoys being outside, either working on his landscaping, automobiles or grilling for his family and friends. He is also active in his church.

Beginning this month, Madison Apartment Group will be offering free online echeck payments for all of its residents throughout the country.

“Our residents have come to expect online services and amenities from their management company,” commented Dean Holmes, chief operating office at Madison. “We have chosen to offer free echeck payments to all of our residents to further increase the convenience of online payments.”

Madison’s online services including rent payments and service requests are accessible anytime, anywhere via the company’s or the community’s individual website and Facebook Fan Page.

Madison Apartment Group has exceptional communities throughout the United States. This month, we’re taking a closer look at Madison at Dogwood in East Norriton, PA.

Location

This award winning community is located less than ½ mile from Route 202 and Germantown Pike, within minutes of the area’s major shopping and business centers. The Plymouth Meeting Mall is located less than a mile away and is home to Boscov’s, Chico’s, Coldwater Creek, Jos. A. Bank, Ann Taylor Loft, Whole Foods, P.F. Chang’s Asian Bistro, California Pizza Kitchen, an AMC Theatre and more. One of the country’s largest indoor shopping malls, Court and Plaza at King of Prussia, is just 10 miles away and offers over 150 specialty stores and upscale dining venues so shopping, dining and entertainment is never far away at Madison at Dogwood. Plus, the community is only 5 miles to both the PA Turnpike and I-476 for easy commuting to work, school and more.

Features and Amenities

Madison at Dogwood offers comfortable 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartment homes with central air conditioning, large closest and private outdoor balconies or patios. New kitchens and bathrooms are available in some apartment homes.

The community is pet friendly and features:

• Private Community Pool
• Recreation Court
• Playground
• Discounted Gym Membership to Retro Fitness
• Controlled Building Access
• On-Site Laundry Centers
• Abundant Parking
• Preferred Employer Discounts
• Professional On-Site Management
• Responsive On-Site Maintenance
• 24 Hour Emergency Maintenance
• Online Payment Options

In September, Madison at Dogwood was awarded three 2011 Best in Apartment Living Awards by The Apartment Association of Greater Philadelphia. The Best Apartment Living Awards are bestowed annually to apartment communities exhibiting excellence in operation and service standards. Click here to read more about the awards given to this and other Madison communities.

Community Events

Madison at Dogwood is an active community that offers fun resident events where you can meet your neighbors. Throughout the month, the community hosts fun events like Pizza Day, National Dessert Day or National Peanut Butter Day. Currently, the community is participating in a Food Drive for Philabundance. The goal is to collect more than 100 lbs of food and residents are entered to win a $50 gift card when they donate to the cause. As you can see, Madison at Dogwood is well on its way to reach the goal!

Interested in making Madison at Dogwood your home?

For rental inquiries, availability, pricing and information about community life, please visit www.madisondogwood.com, call (610) 272-0683 or like us on Facebook.

At Madison Apartment Group, we are committed to providing our residents with quality living environments and outstanding service. We value the opinions and comments of our residents. In fact, we consider their feedback to be a crucial part of fulfilling our commitment to them. In an effort to further engage our residents in this process, we partnered with SatisFacts Research, a national resident satisfaction research company, to conduct an extensive online survey of our residents earlier this year.

Now we have begun a partnership with ResidentSurveys.com, a division of SatisFacts Research, to provide an online Resident Feedback Service called InsiteTM. Going forward, Madison residents will receive emails surveys when they move in or submit a service request. The surveys are completely voluntary and take less than a few minutes to complete.

The feedback from the surveys will assist us in improving and expanding our level of service to our residents.

If you are resident at a Madison community and you would like to update your contact information to participate in the surveys, please send an email to info@maglp.com or contact your management office today.

On Thursday, November 10, 2011, Madison Apartment Group participated in the Apartment Association of Central Pennsylvania’s (AACP) “Rebuilding Communities One Home at a Time” event with the Rebuilding Together Greater Harrisburg, Inc. (RTGH). Madison joined other local multi-family management groups to repair and rebuild a dozen homes in the Dauphin and Cumberland Counties of Pennsylvania.

Madison donated the equipment and nine Madison team members worked to make the following repairs to one of dozen homes that were chosen as part of the rebuilding event:

• Installed vinyl flooring throughout the kitchen area
• Installed shades in family and laundry rooms
• Installed dusk to dawn sensors
• Installed a new sink bowl with new faucet
• Added a hand rail to the front steps and fixed one going into the garage
• Installed a new door viewer

We would like to thank the following Madison team members for volunteering their time to the event:

• Kristen Troxell, Regional Marketing Coordinator
• Matt Wolf, Madison at Woodland Plaza and Madison at Victoria Crossing
• Jay Hilgert, Madison at Woodland Plaza and Madison at Victoria Crossing
• Chris Mitton, Regional Maintenance Coordinator
• Eric Longenecker, Director of Technical Operations
• Javi Torres, Madison at Greenview Terrace
• Tracy Meier, Madison at Barrcrest Manor
• KC Fleming, Madison at Barrcrest Manor

Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the RTGH’s mission is to preserve and revitalize houses and communities, assuring that low-income homeowners, from the elderly and disabled to families with children, live in warmth, safety, and independence. The organization works in partnership with local greater Harrisburg communities including Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry and parts of York and performs home repairs free of charge including roofing, plumbing, and electrical repairs and/or improvements. For more information or to volunteer, visit http://www.rtgh.org.

AACP is a not-for-profit association that strives to support education and professionalism within the multifamily housing industry so that its’ members are successful in providing quality rental housing in Central Pennsylvania. For more information visit, http://www.aacpofpa.com/.