Confirm study flags workforce enablement gap at UK and US businesses

New research from Confirm finds many UK and US businesses are struggling to keep employees job-ready as they scale, with 93% of scale-up leaders saying growth is outpacing enablement. The study says the gap is creating operational risk, compliance issues and slower productivity across frontline and scaling organizations.

Why it matters: - Workforce enablement is moving from an HR issue to a business risk issue for companies trying to grow. - The research links enablement gaps to operational failures, compliance risk, slower ramp times and inconsistent customer experience. - Confirm says stronger visibility into workforce performance can improve consistency and resilience at scale.

What happened: - Confirm released global research based on 800 business leaders in the UK and North America. - The study found 76% of frontline business leaders say employees who are not fully job-ready create high operational risk across locations. - The study found 93% of scale-up leaders say organizational growth is outpacing employee enablement. - The research also found 87% of scale-up leaders say employees are not fully equipped to perform their roles effectively as organizations scale.

The details: - Among frontline organizations, 76% say performance or training gaps frequently create compliance risks or operational failures. - Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, say accessing training or information disrupts employees’ ability to perform core tasks. - Across both groups, onboarding delays and productivity gaps remain widespread. - Frontline leaders say 72% of new hires take more than four weeks to reach full productivity. - The average frontline ramp time is 5.9 weeks. - Among scale-ups, the average ramp time rises to 2.4 months. - Almost all, or 95%, of scale-up organizations say workforce enablement challenges begin between 100 and 1,000 employees. - The average tipping point is around 452 employees. - The findings point to organizations moving beyond traditional training models toward embedded learning, performance support and workforce guidance inside daily work. - The research also says leading organizations connect knowledge, skills, communication, support and technology directly to business performance.

Between the lines: - The study suggests workforce readiness is becoming a competitive differentiator as companies face economic uncertainty, technological change and more complex operations. - The results also imply that growth can expose capability gaps faster than many companies can close them. - Confirm’s framing shows a broader shift toward connected performance ecosystems rather than stand-alone training programs. - Adam Thompson, CEO of Confirm, said workforce enablement has become as important as hiring, technology and transformation for growth and performance. - Lisa White, VP Marketing of Confirm, said continuous learning and performance support can drive stronger business outcomes and more sustainable growth.

What's next: - Confirm says workforce readiness will matter even more as economic and operational pressures increase. - The company says the full findings are available in its frontline enablement gap and scale-up enablement gap reports. - Confirm continues to position its Workforce Enablement System as a way to close capability gaps and turn workforce insight into action.

The bottom line: - The research argues that companies cannot scale effectively if employees are not equipped to perform. - For both frontline businesses and scale-ups, enablement now looks like a core operating requirement, not an optional training layer.