A “lack of executive sponsorship” is the chief barrier to successful leadership development efforts, according to the study, “Real World Leadership,” released by executive search firm Korn Ferry International Inc. (NYSE: KFY).

“Executives have identified the crux of the problem. The next step is to identify practical steps to create a solution,” said Noah Rabinowitz, Korn Ferry senior partner and global head of leadership development. “Given the central role leadership plays in the success of any organization, the view of leadership development has to shift from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ business process, as integral as the supply chain, marketing or IT. Organizations are already investing heavily in leadership development, but they want to ensure that these resources are being spent wisely and producing desired results.”

Survey respondents ranked the barriers to successful implementation of leadership development:

• Lack of executive sponsorship: 32%
• Lack of budget: 26%
• Lack of alignment between stakeholders: 26%
• Lack of delivery resources: 14%
• Lack of technology: 2%

The study also found organizations are generally operating with a 50/50 “build” versus “buy” ratio to fill leadership gaps, even though they say the ideal ratio, based on current best practices, is 67% “build” and 33% “buy.”

Most new executives require a minimum of six months to become fully productive in their roles, yet 53% of survey respondents expect optimal performance from leaders in new and critical positions in six months or less.

“The first step in gaining executive buy-in for leadership development is to start with strategic business needs,” said Korn Ferry Principal Consultant Dési Kimmins. “Executives must examine what challenges the organization currently faces, where the business is going, and the leadership profile that will help the company get where it needs to go. This process starts with the C-suite, and must sustain that level of endorsement and sponsorship to be successful. The most senior leaders need to engage in the development strategy and insist the impact is regularly measured and reported.”

The report provided tips to increase the effectiveness of leadership development and create a robust and sustainable leadership pipeline:

• Embed leadership development in the culture and strategy, ensuring it is consistently sponsored by top executives.
• Embrace the idea that leadership development is a continuous process and not just made up of one-time classes or one-off events.
• Make leadership development more relevant and engaging by focusing programs on the organization’s current strategies and business issues.
• Roll out relevant and appropriate development for all levels in the organization, including senior-most executives and the C-suite.
• Don’t cut back on investing in leadership development when times get tough. That is the time to double down on efforts.

“There are some companies that are very successful at leadership development,” said Rabinowitz. “They’ve made it a part of their culture and it’s something they constantly work at. Organizations that want to strengthen their pipelines and fill critical talent gaps would do well to make leadership development a much higher priority and build a culture around it.”

The survey was conducted in July and August of 2015; it included more than 7,500 executives from 107 countries.