The Silent Crisis: Training Takes Too Long, and the Workforce Is Shrinking

Let’s talk about something few leaders want to admit: onboarding to proficiency takes longer than we think, and we’re running out of time.

In an era of high turnover and pending retirements, many organizations are losing key people faster than they can replace or train them. The talent funnel is thinning, and the skills gap is widening. It’s not just a recruitment issue, it’s a readiness issue.

According to the 2025 HR Monitor, 32% of employees don’t have the skills they need for the role they’re currently in and while 73% of companies conduct short-term workforce planning, only 12% are looking more than three years ahead. 

We’re managing what’s urgent — but neglecting what’s important.

Meanwhile, high-potential employees are walking out the door. A staggering 75% of industries are seeing increased voluntary turnover among top talent and once they leave, we don’t just lose their output, we lose their mentoring capacity. The skills transfer chain breaks.

This creates a silent crisis: New hires are being onboarded into less stable systems with fewer people to train them, longer ramps to productivity, and rising performance pressure.

This isn't a problem more technology alone can solve. It requires a shift in how we develop leadership — not reactively, but proactively. Culture, feedback, team dynamics, and coaching capacity are not soft skills. They’re the backbone of a functioning workplace.

Leadership development is the fastest route to accelerating onboarding, retaining key staff, and minimizing lost knowledge. Yet many organizations only invest in it after a problem surfaces.

Straza Solutions is building an Executive Leadership Program that starts early, before the crisis. It’s designed for leaders preparing to step into bigger roles, helping them build the habits, systems, and cultural fluency to grow people while sustaining performance. If you are curious about this, type CURIOUS into the comments and we will add you to the waitlist.

When we wait until it’s urgent, it’s already too late.

Reflective Questions for Leaders:

• How long does it really take to get someone from hire to high performance in your organization?

• Are your leaders trained to develop others, or just to meet deadlines?

• What investments today would shorten your time-to-readiness tomorrow?