New research reveals growing workforce enablement gap across UK and US businesses
Study finds 93% of scale-up organizations say growth is outpacing employee enablement, while 76% of frontline leaders report workforce readiness gaps are creating operational risk.
New global research from Confirm, the company shaping the future of workforce enablement, has revealed a growing workforce enablement gap that is impacting organizations of all sizes, with business leaders reporting increasing challenges around onboarding, workforce performance, operational consistency and organizational growth.
The findings are based on research among 800 UK and US business leaders across the UK and North America. Together, the findings reveal two sides of the same workforce readiness challenge: frontline enterprises are seeing enablement gaps translate into operational risk, while scale-ups are finding that growth is outpacing their ability to equip employees to perform effectively.
The research found that:
- 76% of frontline business leaders say employees not being fully job-ready creates high operational risk across locations
- 76% say performance or training gaps frequently create compliance risks or operational failures
- 93% of scale-up leaders say organizational growth is outpacing employee enablement
- 87% say employees are not fully equipped to perform their roles effectively as organizations scale
- Across both groups, onboarding delays and productivity gaps remain widespread
The findings point to a broader shift taking place across industries. Workforce enablement is becoming a business-critical capability – not simply a training or HR priority.
The organizations leading the way are connecting the knowledge, skills, communication, support and technology people need to be ready, productive and effective – and linking that directly to business performance.
Despite this, many organizations continue to face significant barriers to workforce enablement. Among frontline organizations, nearly three-quarters (73%) say accessing training or information disrupts employees’ ability to perform their core tasks, highlighting the tension between learning and operational excellence.
Meanwhile, scale-up organizations report that workforce enablement challenges emerge well before enterprise scale. Almost all (95%) say these challenges begin between 100 and 1,000 employees, with the average tipping point at around 452 employees.
“For years, organizations have focused on hiring, technology and transformation as the primary drivers of growth and performance. What this research shows is that workforce enablement has become just as important - when employees aren’t equipped to perform, organizations feel the impact through slower growth, operational inefficiencies, compliance risk and inconsistent customer experience,” said Adam Thompson, CEO of Confirm.
“The findings of our newest benchmarking reports reinforce what we’re seeing across the market. When organizations create a continuous cycle where employees learn faster, perform better, feel more engaged and continue to develop, the impact extends far beyond workforce capability. It drives stronger business outcomes, greater operational resilience and more sustainable growth.” agrees Lisa White, VP Marketing of Confirm.
The research also highlights a growing productivity challenge: frontline leaders report that 72% of new hires take more than four weeks to reach full productivity, with an average ramp time of 5.9 weeks. Among scale-ups, the average rises to 2.4 months.
The findings suggest that organizations are increasingly moving beyond traditional training models towards approaches that embed learning, performance support and workforce guidance directly into everyday work. The research also points to the growing importance of workforce visibility and connected performance ecosystems. Organizations with stronger visibility into workforce performance report higher levels of consistency, improved operational resilience and greater confidence in their ability to support employees at scale.
As economic uncertainty, technological change and workforce complexity continue to increase, Confirm believes workforce readiness will become an increasingly important competitive differentiator.
Full findings are available here: