Livonia, Mich. - Valassis, one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today that it has been recognized five times in 2010 with the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. Honorable mentions have been received for the following Valassis locations:

- Corporate Headquarters, Livonia , Michigan ;
- Dallas , Texas ;
- Houston , Texas ;
- NCH Marketing Services (a Valassis company), Deerfield , Illinois ; and
- Windsor , Connecticut .

This award recognizes employers of all sizes and types across the country that are using flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results. As an honorable mention recipient of the 2010 Sloan Awards, Valassis ranks in the top 20% of employers nationally in terms of its programs, policies and culture for creating an effective and flexible workplace.

"Being considered a great place to work by our employees is important to us and this recognition draws attention to the programs we have in place and is a reflection of the great people who work here," said Todd Wiseley, General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Administration. "We take pride in the 15 awards in 2010 recognizing Valassis for our workplace flexibility, culture, growth and technology." Among the awards Valassis has received in 2010 are:

- 100 Fastest-Growing Companies by FORTUNE magazine;
- InformationWeek 500, Top Technology Innovators;
- Printing Industries of America , Best Workplace in the Americas Award;
- Best Adoption-friendly Workplace by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption;
- Top Workplaces, Detroit , Houston and Milwaukee ; and
- Top 100 Employer, The Black Collegian.

The selection process for the Sloan Awards is rigorous. First, the company's flexibility programs and practices were measured against national norms from Families and Work Institute's National Study of Employers. Employees were then surveyed confidentially on their access to flexible work options, the supportiveness of the culture and on nationally tested measures of workplace effectiveness.

"What makes this honor so special is that employees have corroborated this, affirming that it is indeed an effective and flexible workplace," said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute (FWI).

FWI's nationally representative studies of employees and employers have found that flexibility is a key ingredient in creating effective workplaces that can yield important work-related outcomes. In fact, employees in effective and flexible workplaces report having greater engagement on the job, greater job satisfaction and greater desire to stay with the organization.

The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility are part of the national When Work Works project, an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) and the Twiga Foundation.