Setting appropriate remuneration for a director or a chairman of a company is complex, Institute of Directors chief William Whittaker says.
It involves the consideration of many factors including turnover, asset value, complexity and risk.
Dr Whittaker this week released a Directors Fees Report.
The median fee for a non-executive director remained static during 2012 at $36,000, while the median fee for a non-executive chairman increased by 2.4% to $50,000.
''This survey highlights a sense of cautiousness in the market in regards to remuneration. Organisations are conscious of the need for transparency and accountability in the current environment and are taking a very conservative approach to fee increases.''
There was a clear relationship between the type of organisation and the remuneration of directors, he said.
The average salary for a private company director was two and a-half times that of a not-for-profit director, Dr Whittaker said.
That had implications for the average remuneration for women directors overall.
Women were highly represented on not-for-profit boards (42%) and underrepresented on private company boards (13%). That directly contributed to the difference between the median remuneration for women and men - $25,000 versus $38,000.
The survey revealed a relatively conservative approach to both non-executive chairman and director fee remuneration.
Una Diver, a consulting director with dsd Consulting, said the conservative approach mirrored what she was seeing in remuneration for employees.
There was a trend towards relatively small budgets, in the order of 3% a year, and a move to managing budgets through focusing on rewarding high-performing employees.
''Our observation of trends in the New Zealand and Australian markets suggests boards are sharply focused on the management of risk within their organisation.''
Within remuneration practices, that was playing out in areas as diverse as changes to performance management systems, the inclusion of risk-related measures in variable pay design and the inclusion of risk management-related roles within the executive teams, Ms Diver said.
The survey covered 1550 directorships and 991 organisations throughout New Zealand.
