Helen Wright
Smelling the coffee

By the time you read this, your New Year's resolutions may no longer be foremost in your mind.  Perhaps they've quietly fallen by the wayside - or perhaps they imploded in a puff of wheatgrass-smoothie-fuelled smoke at some point last week.  You may have spent the first week of January declaring that this year you'd practise the saxophone for three hours every day, only eat hand-stroked vegetables grown in the Outer Hebrides, or never argue with your teenage offspring ever again about the levels of hygiene observed in their bedrooms…

Smelling the coffee
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

All Four One

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.

Who cares?

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…

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. 

Sharing the love

Sharing the love

Some of us might feel that we spend a disproportionate amount of our waking hours talking about sharing.  Usually to our offspring - sharing toys, sharing snacks, sharing with siblings.  You know the drill.  We rather assume that by the time we reach adulthood, we've cracked sharing.  But what if we told you that there were many more benefits to sharing than even you had realised?  

Moving on up...

Moving on up...

The post-maternity-leave return to work is not an experience which is widely known for its relaxing qualities. I mean, it's true that I spent the last two weeks of my own maternity leave joking to my friends that the workplace would feel like a spa weekend in comparison to looking after a small child 24/7…