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?

working parents

Checking in...

Checking in...

Back when I was young and innocent, there was a woman in my department.  We'll call her Emma (on the basis that that will narrow it down to approximately 100,000 women of my generation).  Emma was whip-smart, hard-working and generally an all-round great person to have on our team.  She often worked late, took on extra responsibilities and looked after the new graduates.  Emma was also the first person at my professional services firm to work a four day week; in an office of mostly men, in the 2000s, this was A Big Deal. 

A Brighter Future

A Brighter Future

As the New Year dawns, with the added joys of lockdown #3, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a rather grey and uninspiring dawn. However, here at 9-2-3, we’ve been thinking about the months and years to come and we’re feeling hopeful about the post-pandemic landscape for businesses; there are definitely signs of a brighter future shining through the clouds.

“But what if EVERYONE wants flex?”

“But what if EVERYONE wants flex?”

If we let one person work flexibly, then everyone will want to!” is often the argument we hear when speaking to companies who are resistant to introducing flexible working arrangements.

And at 9-2-3, our response is: “That’s a good thing!”

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Returning to work: meet Jenna

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Returning to work: meet Jenna

Perhaps it was the return of confidence or the break away from lego building, but something was telling me I was just so ready for a new opportunity. I was excited to tell people about what I was doing, I became EVEN more efficient with my time (if that is physically possible when already having a young family), it was like I had a new lease of life and, admittedly, such an ego boost, as things seemed to be going so well and clicking into place with work & life and the juggle. 


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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.

Flexible working for me

Flexible working for me

This month we’ve taken on another five members of staff to join the 9-2-3 team, and it’s led me to think about what flexible working means for me. I set up 9-2-3 Jobs following a frustrating (and fruitless) period of looking for work myself. For the first few years I would work alone from my own home….

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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.