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.
