Hybrid and fully remote working were once a trendy work perk that few businesses offered. ONS stats suggest that in 2021, approximately 60% of the UK workforce did at least some of their work from home. Career Builder even recently found that 25% of jobseekers would actively turn down a job offer if it didn’t allow the option to work from home.

This yearning for more flexible options has been embraced at LADbible Group, in a model they call ‘blended working’, which allows the majority of departments across the business (including its London, Manchester and international offices) to work from both home and the offices on a weekly basis.

Bridgeman says: "For us, blended working supports employees to do their best work, five days a week, as they have the choice to be in a quiet environment and get their heads down if they wish, or spend time in the offices to ensure creativity is front of mind and they are involved and a part of our culture."

She added: "Blended working has also helped in various ways such as, widening the talent pool by offering flexibility alongside our competitive benefits such as our extended maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave."

Implementing flexible working structures doesn’t just benefit the employee, nor is it just a way to keep office morale high – there are huge benefits to the people function too. Monster’s report found that 42% of firms say offering flexible work gives them a recruiting advantage, and 48% said it helps them retain talent. And with researchers from PwC recently finding that one in five workers plan to quit their jobs in 2022, firms must do whatever they can to avoid a talent exodus.

But again, LADbible Group is confident of its position in the market. As Bridgeman concludes: "We believe that talent is out there and that the pandemic has created a new wave of people who are entrepreneurs, with side-hustles who want flexibility and to work for companies that really work for them – which are behaviours and personality traits we continue to recruit for. Additionally, the entertainment industry is seeing young people move away from linear TV and consuming content in so many different ways. Everyone is on social media – which means that actually, we have been very fortunate that our need for roles just keeps expanding."

The coronavirus pandemic changed many aspects of working life, including the way that employers and HR approached recruitment. When lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures were in place, many organisations went digital with their recruitment processes to reflect this new way of working.

In fact, at the start of the pandemic, Gartner HR data found that 86% of employers conducted virtual interviews, while 85% of organisations utilised digital technology to onboard new recruits. Separate research from Cielo highlighted that this appeared to be going well. It found that two-thirds of organisations successfully interviewed and onboarded new talent during the pandemic.

And it seems that for many, this digital-first approach to recruitment practices could be here to stay. According to September 2021 data from the Institute of Student Employers, a whopping 93% of companies were still mostly using virtual recruitment methods, while Jobvite’s 2020 Nation Report found that 40% of recruitment experts believe that virtual interviews will continue to be the default moving forwards.

Despite the lingering uncertainty that many firms are facing when searching for the right candidates, and how to win them over, LADbible Group’s approach appears to be working strongly. Its media output gives candidates a glimpse of the work they could be doing. Its social media channels give them insight into how their working day might look. Its interview process gives them a feel for the workplace benefits they would have access to. And finally, their onboarding process ensures a smooth and efficient transition from candidate to employee, ensuring that their transition into the business starts off as positively as possible.

Ultimately, this is all possible because the company keeps a keen eye on the talent market, analyses the behaviour of jobseekers, and shouts loud about why it is a great place to work. Having seen the evidence of this model’s success, HR leaders facing their own recruitment headaches might consider following suit.

At our virtual HR Grapevine ‘Technology 3.0' event in 2021, Sinead Allchurch, HR Director at LADbible Group, talks about key leadership takeaways from the pandemic.