(US and Canada) Hariharan Srinivasan, Director – Enterprise Data Engineering and Analytics, Franklin Templeton, speaks with Cheryl Rodenfels, Chief Technology Officer, Field Stratascale – an SHI Company, about nurturing talent, retaining skilled staff, and automating processes.

Srinivasan says reskilling and upskilling are becoming mandatory parts of the job. He adds that it’s also crucial to unlearn and be open to learning new things. He stresses the need for investing in people because they make things happen. Srinivasan emphasizes encouraging people to learn new skills and attend conferences to nurture talent. He also suggests making the platforms available so people can access information.

He highlights the need for support from the corporate entity, such as necessary budgets and training platforms to reskill talent. He also mentions implementing the right processes that work best for people.

Srinivasan sheds light on the importance of having domain and business knowledge, which can help people be more productive in their roles. Regarding the challenge of attrition and talent retention, he maintains that motivated work, encouragement, and recognition help retain people.

When asked if Franklin Templeton is relying more on automation today, Srinivasan shares that more than 90% of the organization’s processes are automated — a key factor for increased efficiency. He adds that automation is a continuous process that has to be pursued constantly. It helps understand problems and leads to opportunities to fix and prevent them from reoccurring.

Srinivasan says he also listens to peers and business partners for input and evaluates them to find the correct fitment before implementing automation.