Franklin Resources Reviews

Pros

My first response to this question used to be the benefits package and I will cover this more in the "downside" question. Now I would have to say it is the friendships I have created with co-workers. The corporate culture is generally very good. By that I mean that with Franklin being such a large company there are a lot of different departments and so employees generally find their way to a position they like and are surrounded by others with similar likes, dislikes, and goals. I don't understand why there are so many lower management types in our office or how some of them got to that position and that is the biggest drawback to the culture. The benefits package is still a very good aspect to working with Franklin even though it's not as good as it used to be. There is a stock investment plan in which we can purchase BEN at a 15% discount, a profit sharing 401k with a standard company match up to 3% of salary, 7.5 hour work days and generous vacation time. There is also a sense of pride working for Franklin Templeton as we are a market leader that most in the industry respect.

Cons

There are a few things I need to mention here. Franklin is a large company so it's easy to get lost in the mix. There is too much management and they have some strange expectations of the employees that if you don't participate in it you're almost frowned upon. An example of this can be found in the sales department with a speech competition. And while I mentioned benefits as a good reason to work here, I have to also address it here. Over the last year or so the benefits package has changed for the worse. Aside from the normal health benefits costing employees more, they've also cut back on our partnerships with local companies... so various memberships have become more expensive, ect. They have also drastically cut our stock ownership plan as there's no longer a company match. They've raised target points for sales commission using projections from 2007 sales which was a record-setting year but have not adjusted this year to compensate for the poor market which is out of our control. And they've raised their expectations to a point that most employees do not earn their full bonus. These changes have caused some of our best employees to leave because our base salaries do not seem to be competitive on their own.

Advice to Senior Management

I have watched as some very, very talented employees have left us to go to our competitors. Everyone of them that I've spoken to has cited their main reason being compensation. While I understand that there will probably always be someone out there willing to pay more, it seems as though we are on the bottom. There are other reasons to stay but when the benefits package also gets brought down to "be competitve" it's no wonder people have updated their resumes. We need to keep our good people because we've noticed (this year) that we cannot always rely on our fund performance alone. It seems that we are being short sided and thinking about our next quarterly report and stock price instead of being a little more long term. I know that our Senior Management owns a healthy percentage of our stock so it's not surprising, but it's disappointing to the rest of us. It's disappointing to see our talent leave (including portfolio managers), jobs being "global sourced" and to make less this year while working harder because of the poor market. All while the family members of our founder appear on the Forbes Billionaire list in large part because of their ownership in BEN. Keep your core happy and we'll succeed... lose too much talent and we will all feel the pain eventually.

Pros

The people that work here are generally very nice. It is a fun place to work and the facilities are very good. The benefits have been very good as well but recently there has been cuts that seem to be nibbling away at this advantage of working here.

Cons

The company is thrifty, sometimes to an extent of being unprofessional. Salaries tend to be low compared to similar positions in other financial firms. There are way too many lifers at Franklin who basically are a drag to the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop trying to nickel and dime the costs. People generally like to work here but often feel like they are in an overly thrifty environment. This can foster resentment by employees.

Pros

Benefits are better than many competitors. Generally allow employees a good balance between work and life. San Mateo location is close to San Francisco, San Jose, and Napa Valley, but far enough from the city that the commute isn't difficult.

Cons

Pay less than competitors for similar roles. Management can be too conservative. Advancement can be difficult with politics and the tendency to advance and hire people with ties to the Johnson familiy.

Advice to Senior Management

Employees would be more satisfied if pay was a bit more competative. Company could benefit from management not being so conservative and looking to create more interesting products.

Pros

good benefits, good, secure company

Cons

"lifers" contribute to glacially slow pace and willingness for change

Advice to Senior Management

shuffling around deck chairs by promoting/moving existing long-time employees to "new" departments is not a good strategy for growth and innovation

Pros

Franklin will provide you with good exposure to a wide range of groups. At the very least, you can expect to grow your skill set. Franklin definitely values extended education (either training on new tools, business concepts or even post-graduate/MBA studies) and is willing to fund most learning ventures. It's a good place to be if you want to ramp up your experience. Also, the products are great -- the portfolio team is definitely the brain trust of the company.

Cons

In terms of career growth, there is little to no room for growth. For this reason, talent does not seem to "stick around" at Franklin (two years seems to be the max for true top performers unless you've sold your soul to the graduate/MBA education assistance program). In terms of management, most "leaders" were placed in their position based on the years they dedicated to Franklin (versus talent/intelligence/experience) so decisions made may not always be the "wisest". To put it frankly, not everyone at Franklin is all that bright and they tend to drag their feet to get anything done.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire smart people. Promote smart people.

Pros

Franklin Templeton offers very clear career pathing and great benefits. They employ some of the top talent in the industry in their sales department, but they don't pay as much as some other firms. In fact, they underpay compared to some 2nd and 3rd tier firms. They are also blindly loyal to some employees who are a complete waste of resources, because they believe in "continuity" in the territories and they aren't fully engaged in the employee atmosphere.

Cons

below industry average pay. Middle management rather out of touch, clueless and will "tell you what you want to hear."

Advice to Senior Management

Take the time to talk to employees and take their advice. If you want to retain the top talent, you have to pay the top talent.

Pros

Franklin Resources has good benefits.

Cons

Career opportunities, compensation, recognition, work/life balance.

Advice to Senior Management

Look into employee recognition and promote work/life balance.

Pros

The health/vision/retirement benefits are some of the best in the industry. The Employee Stock Purchase plan with 50% company match is probably the best in the industry.

The facilities at the San Mateo Headquarters are new and the gymnasium are clean and very well maintained.

During down times the company issued a paycut instead of laying people off. This was received well by the employees.

Cons

Franklin has an industry reputation for overworking their employees; especially on the technology side. 9-10 hour workdays and work on weekends are commonplace and not only until recently have there been efforts to compensate employees for their extra hours. Pay scale is not commensurate to hours spent working.

Workers are encouraged to work long hours because they are given extra "credit" in their performance reviews for willingness to work long hours and weekends. This is the culture that
breeds an unsustainable pace of work that leads to frequent employee burnout and employee turnover.

Employee concerns about being overworked have not been fully addressed and typically misdirected by management.

Example: Employees will complain of long hours..and in response...management elects to give
coffee card bonuses to compensate employees for their long hours. They are not compelled at ALL to try and alleviate the long hours but to create misdirection and expect little coffee cards will pacify employees.

The reason for this is because Management is SOLEY concerned of the bottom line and interested in
achieving their project goals and receiving their own individual accolades (and bonuses) for project completion at the expense of the overall mental/physical health of their employees. There is a HUGE gap of communication regarding this.

Example: A manager was recently profilied at the company and it listed his/her many accomplishments and projects that he/she was involved in. In reality, most of the projects he/she had no direct relation to, but was quick to take the credit. He/She did not mention at all..the team of employees that worked w/him/her. This is NOT an isolated incident of one manager, but an example of many.

Because of examples like this and others, there is a strong distrust between managers and employees. The management teams meet privately too much and appear not as open to employees
regarding many things about the organization.

There is also a severe lack of training/character evaluation of managers as well.
There are managers who are socially/emotionally immature and are unable to
manage their own behavior, let alone providing guidance for others.

There definitely exists a glass ceiling that prohibits many workers from becoming managers.
Only managers that tow the company line of overworking their staff are retained and hired up
as managers.

Advice to Senior Management

Your approach is NOT working. You meet privately and create an air of distrust. You overwork your employees and misdirect/mislead expectations by outwardly denying overworking people, yet privately encouraging them to put in the extra work in performance reviews.

Nothing bad to say about Greg Johnson. I think the company is performing well. Just have issues w/senior and mid level management who are out of touch w/their employees either intentionally or unintentionally.

Pros

At it's peak, several years ago, Franklin Templeton was a great place to work, with good mid-level management and decent compensation.

Cons

Since they have made the choice to off-shore the bulk of the maintenance work, the consideration for employee morale has disappeared.

Advice to Senior Management

Franklin needs to consider their U.S. employees, and remember that they are the backbone of the company. They need to reinstate some of the social activities that they used to have. They need to consider the state of the economy when they calculate salary increases and bonuses. The assets under management are bigger than ever, but the compensation is almost frozen in place.