Helen Wright
Pulling together

The festive period is often a time of reflection.  As December rolls around, we're sometimes haunted by the ghosts of Christmasses past.  Of years when the office was festooned with tinsel and the wistful tones of Mariah Carey echoed around the departmental kitchen.  This can go either way, of course.  You might feel a touch of nostalgia for the years when reindeer sweaters were de rigueur at your Friday morning accounts meeting.  You may, on the other hand, shudder at the memory of an office Christmas lunch of lukewarm turkey and soggy sprouts.  Either way, this time of year has a habit of focussing the mind on the issue of RTO - the "Return To The Office".

Pulling together
Helen Wright
The Big Cheese

What makes a good leader?  How much impact do our senior managers really have on our day-to-day experience of work?   And is the movement towards equality and flexibility for all really dependent on great chiefs?

The Big Cheese
Helen Wright
Bright Sparks: Top Tips for Returning To Work ...

In an attempt to smooth the path of our friends in the 9-2-3 community, we've put together some top tips to help you to return to work with confidence, and bag the best flexible jobs on the market in 2024.  Read on for more details...

Bright Sparks: Top Tips for Returning To Work After a Career Break
Helen Wright
All Four One

Ah, September.  Month of blustery mornings.  Of afternoons where the leaves crunch satisfyingly under your feet.  Of endless confusion about the day on which PE kit is required.  Don't you just love it?

 We can't help but feel a flutter of excitement at this time of year.   Possibly it's because of the sudden silence at home, or the reduced demands for snacks and screen time.  Maybe you're celebrating the excuse to dig out cosy sweaters and to retreat inside with a book.  Or perhaps it's the fact that the air is just that touch fresher, the colours that fraction richer.  Everyone I pass is walking with a little bit more purpose in their steps.  However old we are, as the new academic year rolls around, I think we all feel a little more driven - that it's time to set ourselves some new goals, and that we finally have the bandwidth and the space to achieve them.

All Four One
Helen Wright
Who cares?

Here at 9-2-3, we often talk about the challenges of balancing childcare with careers.  Of how flexible working can help people with disabilities to access the workplace.  About how flex can help older employees extend their working lives.  But there's another group of employees out there whose place in the world of work is also increasingly under threat…

Who cares?

National Flexible Working

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Looking for flexibility and work-life balance in your fifties - An honest interview with Fiona Ravenscroft - #generationflex

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Looking for flexibility and work-life balance in your fifties - An honest interview with Fiona Ravenscroft - #generationflex

“Whenever I walk through the door at home I am out of office, then when I walk through the door at work I am 100% at work…This is easy as long as you are not addicted to your smartphone!”

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Flex: Making it work - as a company

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Flex: Making it work - as a company

Now, I know that a blog about the logistical challenges of implementing flex in the workplace is not the most inspiring topic in the world.  As a passionate advocate of flexible working, it is all too easy for me to reel off reasons why it is so powerful.  The benefits to business are not in dispute - proven advantages include a happier, more productive workforce, less sick days taken by staff, increased profits, I could (and on many occasions, do) go on …………… But what people don’t hear about quite so often is exactly HOW businesses make flexible working work within their organisation.  


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Returning to work: Meet Hannah...

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Returning to work: Meet Hannah...

The phrase ‘returning to work after children’ seems to suggest to some people that you’re looking for a job that will be some sort of tepid compromise…something that you only accept because it works between school drop off at 8:03 and your youngest’s badminton lesson at 15:20.  NO THANK YOU!   I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love our three children and I will of course be claiming at least fifty percent of the glory if any of them end up on an Olympic podium, badminton racquet in hand but my career is exactly that – mine.  Returning to work after children for me was first and foremost about finding something that would be a clear and positive progression in a long and happy career.

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#dadsflextoo - A blog by Phil Farr

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Hi, my name's Phil and I work as a Senior Project Officer for the Greater London Authority and have done for 20 years. Yes, really! I have a partner and a lovely daughter who is 7. We live in the Home Counties and due to being able to work flexibly, I am able to balance the commute to work in London with some work from home days and this suits me because I can be there to do the school run and take my daughter to after-school activities.

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Build Your Confidence by Anna Morris of First Focus Consultants

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Confidence is a funny thing, we can be super confident in one area of our lives, yet crumble and feel nervous, or worse, terrified at the prospect of facing other situations.  The key thing to being confident is EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE…

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7 Steps to deliver your best interview YET!

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To round off our #25dayflexup we'll be running our first ever webinar!

We really hope that you can join us on Thursday 31st at 8pm for our online event with Jackie Meek Future Path Life Coaching. Jackie will be taking you through 7 useful steps to deliver your BEST interview yet and for those that are able to join us, you'll receive a PDF from Jackie with some brilliant interview questions so that you're fully prepared…

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You’ve aced your CV and now it’s time to prepare for your interview!

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Remember, this is your opportunity to shout about YOU! Here are some of the top tips that the ladies at 9-2-3 have put together based on client and candidate feedback and of course, their own professional opinion.