Valassis Reviews in Detroit, MI Area

Pros

I like the atmosphere and the flexibility of the organization. They really put a lot of focus on work/life balance and to me that is very important.

Cons

Lack of career advancement opportunities, benefits are not as good as they used to be, and very horizontal organizational structure.

Pros

There are many dedicated and talented coworkers. Valassis offers some innovative products and services as well. The majority of the people that work there are very helpful.

Cons

Management leaves people in the dark. Change is vague. You're encouraged to ask questions but then chastised if you do. HIGH level of favoritism. Management selects people when they first start and fast track them to management and are blind to other people's skills, talent and contribution. There is a lot of back stabbing amongst the younger ones. The truly nice people are chewed up by many and disrespected. Some leaders also share talk about other team members to their direct reports - totally unprofessional. If you're efficient and leave on time - then they don't think you have enough work to do if you're not logging OT. Yet the other folks that are incurring OT are busy being social butterflies and they are the "shining stars." It's odd to try to figure out the culture and it's clear that it varies by leader.

Advice to Senior Management

Train your leaders on ethics. (This does not apply to all the leaders). Leaders also don't need to beat up their staff. They also need to learn how to easily and readily recognize their staff. People would be happy with a simple "great job" and it doesn't have to be a formalized award. See above Cons and discern areas for improvement.

Pros

-Vacation/Time Off is good after 5+ years.

Cons

-Sr. Mgmt is not open to associate feedback and extremely unapproachable.
-Leadership only looks to put a feather in their own hat. Consistently leads by bad example.
-Favoritism is abundant. Opportunities to grow are not spread amongst associates. When employees ask to be a part of new projects/accounts it is overlooked and another ridiculous excuse is given.
-There is never a good answer from Sr. Mgmt or Leadership. There is a lot of “back peddling” when asked about decision making.
-Threatening and intimidating environment.
-New leadership has no formal training/experience in any corporate leadership environment. Standard HR practices are not used by leaders, communication is grim, decision making seems to be quick and not well thought out. Very reactive.
-Pay very low.
-Too much push for a spot on "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. Instead of focusing on the real problems at hand within this division, they are sweeping them under the rug and trying a quick fix approach to make this list.

Advice to Senior Management

Enough with the hostile, unethical, untrained approach within this division. There needs to be a change in management and leadership or someone up the ranks within needs to understand and tackle the problems within this division. The turn over is very high and people are extremely unhappy. The new attitude of "whatever, we don't need you here anyway" from Sr. Mgmt is driving people out the door. This is not a way to show you are a dynamic company. This should speak volumes on how this division is treats their employees. The poor kids coming in from surrounding colleges are seeing this right off the get as well. Very sad and disappointing.

Pros

*Good-hearted people who are excited about their jobs and the service that they provide.
*Enjoyable work environment at corporate headquarters.

Cons

*Some of VCI's individual performance metrics could use some updating.

Pros

You can wear jeans every day. Other than that, the perks are nothing better than any other place that isn't a great place to work.

Cons

This place wants to be a great place to work, but it is far from that. No opportunities for advancement, the HR is not approachable. Most people don't even know where the HR department is or who their liaison is. Bonuses go to the top then the bottom tiers get what's left and it's never much, even when they're making good profits.

Pros

Valassis is what you make of it. Several interns have gone in and managed to roll their internships into successful careers.

Cons

That being said, Valassis is what you make of it. Several other interns have slacked off and not appreciated the opportunities that they have been presented.

Advice to Senior Management

Rotate interns, they seem to get stagnant sitting in the same positions. Maybe rotating one intern into a different related position would greatly broaden their experience.

Pros

- Friendly people
- Not so uptight environment
- Takes interns seriously

Cons

- "cafeteria" food stinks
- Can become monotonous sometimes.

Advice to Senior Management

Can have more interactive intern programs.

Pros

100% flexibility in choosing work schedule, great work environment with welcoming co-workers who are always willing to help. Management is friendly.

Cons

career progress was slow when I worked for them. IT management was not very effective in persuading the business for all related expenses for projects.

Advice to Senior Management

IT management should be more proactive and business management should be appreciative and helpful of the former's needs. More trainings should be offered to the employees to keep them current with the rapid change in tech.

Pros

flexible hours, nice people, decent salary

Cons

opinions do not matter. if you disagree with the majority, you'll be shot down

Advice to Senior Management

COMMUNICATION

Pros

Good wages, friendly people, fun environment, had the opportunity to work on some substantial projects

Cons

Office politics and lack of cooperation between departments was distracting and unprofessional at times

Advice to Senior Management

None, very approachable and easy to work with