The Future Report

As the times continue to change, expectations among consumers are shifting. Our research shows that people want to know what positive differences organisations are making. Enter social impact.

Social impact is more than describing the activities an organisation does. It is the outcome of that work, and the changes that have occurred because of it.

While 'social impact' isn’t a new term, we have noticed an increase in organisations and particularly not-for-profits responding to it.

In today’s episode, our host, Ashley Fell sits down with fellow McCrindle colleagues, Shannon Wherrett and Sophie Renton to delve into what social impact is, why it is important and how organisations can utilise it, to engage with their stakeholders.

When you think about executive boards and governance, what do you think? 

As our world becomes more complex, organisations are navigating changing social attitudes, demographic shifts, and technological disruptions. Boards play an important role in guiding the future of an organisation, and there's a shift happening with Millennials coming through in senior leadership roles.

To discuss this important topic, our host, Ashley Fell sits down with McCrindle’s Director of Strategy, Grant Dusting. 

For a long time, the term “Millennials” was synonymous with young people. However, today these ‘young people’ are well into their 30s, having children of their own and emerging as leaders as they gain experience in their careers. In this episode, we delve into Millennials (also known as Gen Y) and their career expectations, how they differ from older generations, the challenges they face in the workplace, and advice about creating engaging workplaces.

There is no doubt that the experience of the last two years has been transformative. Looking to the year ahead, we foresee important demographic, economic, social, technological, environmental, and political shifts to take place. As futurists, we believe that it is essential that leaders are equipped with an understanding of how to spot the trends, and what those trends are.

So, what can we expect to see and change in the year ahead?

Our host, Ashley Fell sits down with social researcher, Geoff Brailey to share our predictions for the top trends of the year ahead.

How does anyone predict the future? Well, we have some tips up our sleeve. In this episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with futurist, Mark McCrindle to share the tricks of the trade with you and what 2022 might look like. 

In the first episode of season 2, we're talking all things Generation Z and what the future of work will look like for today's school-leavers. Joining the conversation about this emerging generation is the generational expert, Mark McCrindle. 

Gen Z describes those born between 1995 and 2009, so today they are in their mid-late teens and mid-late twenties. 

For the final episode of Season 1, we are talking all things Christmas! Our host, Ashley Fell is joined by McCrindle's Managing Director, Sophie Renton to discuss our research on the best and the worst Christmas gift-givers, how younger generations plan on celebrating this Christmas with some unconventional celebrations and consumerism during the festive season. 

As the clock ticked over to 2021, many people looked forward to putting a pretty chaotic year of 2020 behind us. While it is good to have hope and optimism for the future, 2021 probably didn’t pan out as many hoped. With the Delta strain of the Coronavirus sending countries around the world into lockdown, and Australia navigating quite a different experience than that of the year before, 2021 posed its challenges. But while a lot of the year was impacted by COVID-19, other things happened too. From demographic change to political events. From social trends to consumer shifts and technology trends. We are discussing all of this in our episode today as we review the year that was and how we can prepare for what’s next.

Can you remember a time in your life when someone showed you an act of kindness? How about the last time you showed kindness to someone? It is universally acknowledged that it is cool to be kind, and there are lots of encouraging quotes about it. 

From the ancient Greek philosopher, Aesop, who said "No act of kindness is ever wasted" to Mother Teresa who said, "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless", have you ever thought about why kindness is so important and how you can be more kind?

In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell sits down with McCrindle's Research Lead, Steph Razey to discuss what the research says about how kind we actually are, why kindness is so important, and what acts of kindness we want to see more of in our lives.

A major event like a pandemic can cause a reassessment of life. From the 'Great Resignation' that we discussed in our last episode, to our relationships to our job, where we choose to live, and of course what we consider to be important, many aspects of our lives are being reassessed. In today's episode, our host Ashley Fell sits down with Social Researcher, Mark McCrindle to discuss what people are reevaluating in light of the pandemic, why a major event causes us to reevaluate things in our life, and how a greater sense of meaning can impact wellbeing and mental health and the future generations.