The
Readiness Gap
Emerging professionals believe they're performing. Managers disagree, and organizations are absorbing the cost.
Across industries, organizations are seeing the same pattern: emerging talent hesitates in high-stakes moments, struggles with communication under pressure, and lacks confidence when judgment matters most.
At the same time, Gen Z professionals report working hard, meeting expectations, and wanting to grow. So where is the disconnect?
What the Data Reveals
To understand this disconnect, Knopman Marks surveyed professionals and managers across high-pressure industries — and combined decades of qualitative insight from training hundreds of thousands of early-career professionals and the leaders who manage them.
The findings explain a growing performance drag organizations feel but struggle to name.
90%of Gen Z professionals believe they are meeting or exceeding expectations
only 16%of managers agree
Taken together, the data points to a clear conclusion:
This is not a talent or motivation problem. It is a readiness problem.
Why the gap exists
Many Gen Z professionals entered the workforce having had fewer opportunities to practice navigating ambiguity, receiving direct feedback, and recovering from mistakes in low-risk environments. Modern work then magnifies that gap. Apprenticeship is thinner. Feedback loops are lighter. Expectations accelerate faster than practice opportunities. Technology — including AI — compresses learning while increasing the visibility and pressure of the moments that remain human.
The result: hesitation in moments where judgment, communication, and composure matter most.
Top Barriers to Performance
(Gen Z Self-Reported)
Together, these conditions create hesitation in moments where judgment and composure matter most.
Why This
Matters Now
Managers are not failing. Gen Z is not disengaged. Both are acting rationally inside a system that no longer builds readiness by default.
Organizations that rebuild feedback, reintroduce real practice, and clarify expectations don't just improve near-term execution, they reduce risk and strengthen their leadership pipeline.
The readiness gap is solvable.
The question is whether organizations choose to design for it.