2014 Director Sentiment Survey

What directors told us in 2014

The 2014 Director Sentiment Survey, conducted by the Institute of Directors in partnership with NZIER, gathered responses from 859 directors across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key insights:

• • Economic outlook: 47% expected national economic performance to improve, while 35% foresaw no change and 18% anticipated a decline. Optimism for individual organisations was even stronger, with 71% expecting their own business to grow.
  • Regulatory impact: A significant 75% said compliance activity had noticeably increased over the past two years, with 23% naming reduced red tape as the top government priority to boost economic performance.
  • Personal liability: 57% agreed that rising director liability had made them more cautious in decision-making.
  • Skills and capability: Talent risk topped the list, the most cited organisational risk. Only about half felt their board had the skills to meet upcoming Health & Safety reforms.
  • Technology reporting: Less than half received quality reporting on technology issues or engaged in robust discussion on these topics.
  • Diversity: 64% agreed that diversity was a key board appointment consideration, but fewer were taking active steps to increase it.

These foundational insights helped shape how boards assessed economic trends, governance risk, capability gaps, digital readiness, and diversity from the very first survey.

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Delve into the 2014 findings with the IoD and NZIER.

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We hope you find this Director Sentiment Survey insightful. We would love to hear your thoughts. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to discuss the report.