The Next Generation Is Sending a Clear Signal

What the Real Estate Balance NextGen Survey really tells leaders – and why it matters now

Every so often, research lands that doesn’t just confirm what many leaders already sense, but sharpens it into something harder to ignore.

The Real Estate Balance NextGen Survey 2025 is one of those moments.

Based on responses from over 460 early-career professionals across real estate and related sectors, the findings shine a light on the lived experience of the next generation – not just in terms of diversity and inclusion, but in how people experience development, motivation, leadership and purpose 

For anyone responsible for the long-term health of a professional services business, there are some important signals here.

Technical Excellence Is Not the Problem

One of the most striking themes running through the survey is that early-career professionals are not lacking opportunity in the traditional sense.

Many respondents report exposure to:

• training and development
• client interaction
• events and industry activity

What is far less consistent is access to:

• strategic visibility
• cross-functional experience
• mentoring and sponsorship
• meaningful involvement in decision-making

In other words, people are busy and capable – but not always connected to the bigger picture.

This mirrors what I see repeatedly in multidisciplinary practices: strong technical foundations, but a gap when it comes to confidence, context and progression into broader leadership roles.

Development Without Direction Creates Drift

The survey highlights a growing risk for professional services firms.

When development is plentiful but poorly connected to purpose, progression and impact, people start to disengage. Not necessarily loudly – but subtly:

• motivation becomes transactional
• business development feels “optional” or uncomfortable
• collaboration weakens
• future leaders fail to see themselves staying

This is not a generational issue. It is a design issue.

People want to understand:

• why their work matters
• how they add value beyond delivery
• what leadership looks like in practice
• and how growth benefits clients, communities and the business itself

Without that clarity, even well-intentioned development programmes fall flat.

Culture Is Experienced Locally, Not Declared Centrally

The findings on inclusive culture are nuanced and important.

There are clear signs of progress in reducing inappropriate behaviour, yet a simultaneous decline in how supported people feel across areas such as wellbeing, career progression and line management 

This suggests something I often see with clients:
policies and intent at the centre do not always translate into consistent lived experience on the ground.

The next generation is not asking for perfection. They are asking for:

• consistency
• clarity of expectations
• emotionally intelligent leadership
• and environments where it is safe to ask questions, contribute and grow

Purpose Is the Missing Connector

Perhaps the most important insight is what sits underneath many of the findings.

This generation wants to work in an industry that feels:

• meaningful
• mission-driven
• socially aware
• and human

They are optimistic about technology, including AI, but clear that it should enable better thinking and better relationships, not replace them.

Purpose, in this context, is not a brand statement. It is a practical leadership tool:

• it explains why development matters
• it reframes business development as value creation, not selling
• it encourages collaboration over protectionism
• and it gives people a reason to stay and step up

What This Means for Leaders in Professional Services

The message from the NextGen Survey is not that firms need to do more.
It is that they need to do things more intentionally.

In my work with multidisciplinary practices, the firms making the most progress are those that:

• connect development to real client context
• treat client exposure as a leadership capability, not a reward
• invest in confidence, communication and commercial thinking
• and help people articulate their own sense of purpose within the business

When that happens, motivation strengthens, collaboration improves, and future leaders start to emerge more naturally.

Insight Is Only Valuable If It Changes Something

The Real Estate Balance NextGen Survey is an invitation – not just to reflect, but to act.

It challenges leaders to ask:

• Are we developing technicians, or future leaders?
• Do our people understand why growth and relationships matter?
• Are we relying on a few individuals to carry culture and clients?
• And are we creating an environment people want to commit to long term?

These are not HR questions. They are strategic business questions.

And they sit at the heart of the work I support with clients: helping professional services firms turn insight into practical, embedded change that benefits people, clients and the business as a whole.