News story

Critical realities of HR Technology revealed in report series from Fosway Group and HRN

Cirencester, UKLearning NewsFosway

Fosway Group, Europe’s #1 HR and learning analyst, reveals the critical realities of HR technology across Europe, in partnership with HRN, the world’s largest corporate HR network focused on the future of work and technology. Ahead of the HR Tech World Spring event in London next week, the new research is being made available through a series of reports and infographics.

 

Now in its third year, the research takes an unashamedly European perspective and deliberately takes account for the cultural nuances and regional subtleties that inform the reality of HR across Europe. With input from hundreds of enterprise organisations across the continent, the research highlights a number of key priorities for HR this year. From the top measures for overall success, to the drivers for changing HR systems, the data is telling some interesting stories.

The alignment of HR as a strategic business partner remains a top priority, with 92% of respondents aiming to increase organisational performance and profitability through HR, 89% focused on reducing costs and 86% working to improve customer satisfaction and service quality. Employee engagement continues to be an important strategic goal. And data-driven decision making is seen as key, with analytics dominating a number of responses.

But with 64% of organisations having a decentralised HR operating model and less than 25% having standardised HR systems, accessing the data and insight required to achieve these goals is challenging. This decentralised landscape in Europe potentially also highlights why 78% of respondents are moving – or plan to move - their HR systems to the Cloud.

David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group comments, ‘When commentators and analysts talk about HR, the realities of what it means to work across the different countries and cultures of Europe are regularly ignored. HR is often viewed as a global business. But the reality for most European and international organisations is that HR can feel very different from a one size fits all approach. Research on the priorities, needs and differences for European companies has been very thin on the ground. With this new series of reports, we are redressing that balance.’

Peter Russell of HRN elaborates, ‘It is part of our passion to bring a European perspective to the discussion on HR and HR technology. This research takes that position, focusing on European HR trends, challenges and realities. And importantly, it focuses not just on what works, but what really makes a difference for European and international HR professionals. We are excited to share these deep insights and build further on this research with Fosway Group throughout 2016.’

Further insights based on the research will be presented at HR Tech World Spring in London on 15 and 16 March 2016. The report series can be accessed via the Fosway Group website as can information on Fosway and HRN’s further research in 2016.