Organisations are focusing on becoming more resilient because of geopolitical and environmental crises. This comes on top of HR's ongoing work in supporting the health and wellbeing of employees and overcoming skills challenges. Fosway's latest research into the cloud HR market shows that employers are also looking to support the financial wellbeing of employees, as the cost-of-living crisis starts to bite. Flexible working is here to stay, with organisations making it a central part of their approach to hybrid work.

HR teams are also looking to embed processes in the flow of work in order to provide a seamless people experience through an ecosystem of cloud HCM Suites and cloud HR specialists. Fosway research shows that nearly 75% of HR leaders believe their current HR solutions can deliver the UX their organisation expects, but only 15% say they are delivering an irresistible people experience.

Despite the desire to improve the experience of HR processes, organisations are starting to find that cloud HR vendors are not able to provide the agility and flexibility they require. They also see rising total cost of ownership as a result of needing more help from consultants and system integrators to meet their changing needs. 

"HR is being challenged to really raise its game, both to deliver agile and effective people operations, as well as transforming people experience across the organisation," said David Wilson, CEO, Fosway Group. "So, it is incumbent on vendors to be able to also deliver truly agile platforms and a seamless experience for their customers. To see that there are fault lines appearing in cloud HR vendors' ability to deliver the required experience is a cause for concern."

The Fosway 9-Grid™ for cloud HR provides market and solution insights for buyers in the European cloud HR market at a time of accelerating change and innovation. With buyers facing more choice than ever before, Fosway's analysis provides an assessment of solutions based on whether they are part of an HCM suite or a specialist focused on certain parts of the HR process such as absence and workforce management.

Fosway insights are generated from ongoing research programmes involving more than 1,500 organisations. The research and insights aim to demystify the supply options available to organisations and help HR teams make better buying decisions when it comes to investing in their technology solutions.

Lead analyst on the 9-Grid™, Sven Elbert, added, "This year's market analysis shows the importance of the ‘experience’. HR teams are focused not only on enhancing the people experience, but embedding it seamlessly into the flow of work. This in turn enhances the overall employee experience, which is becoming a key component in helping organisations to become more resilient."

A free public webinar entitled "Ask the Analyst" is being held 04 October 2022 for the wider market and corporate leaders. Places for the webinar are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.