Inclusive Recruitment and Interview Practices: Turning FREDIE into Action

Inclusive recruitment is no longer a “nice to have” – it is a strategic imperative.

Organisations that embed inclusion into how they attract, assess, and select talent not only widen their talent pool, but also make better, fairer hiring decisions. One useful framework for guiding this work is FREDIE: Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.

When applied thoughtfully, FREDIE can transform recruitment and interview practices from transactional processes into inclusive experiences that enable every candidate to perform at their best.

RNN Group is committed to the principles of FREDIE in all that it does including recruitment of new staff.

Understanding FREDIE in recruitment

Before focusing on interview techniques, it’s important to understand how FREDIE shows up across the recruitment lifecycle:

• Fairness: Ensuring hiring decisions are based on role-related criteria, not personal bias or assumptions.
• Respect: Treating every candidate with dignity, transparency, and professionalism throughout the process.
• Equality: Providing consistent opportunities and standards for all candidates.
• Diversity: Actively seeking candidates from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and identities.
• Inclusion: Creating processes where candidates feel valued, safe, and able to show their true capabilities.
• Equity: Recognising that different candidates may need different forms of support to access the same opportunity.

An inclusive interview process

Interviewing is where these principles are most visibly tested and it is important to design and develop inclusive interview processes and the RNN Group is constantly looking at interview processes, questions and the customer experience with regard to interviews and recruitment of staff.

Inclusive role design means that effective interviews begin long before candidates enter the room. Inclusive recruitment means:

• Writing job descriptions that focus on essential skills rather than unnecessary credentials.
• Avoiding gendered or exclusionary language.
• Being explicit about flexibility, reasonable adjustments, and organisational values and culture.

We want people to join the RNN Group and enjoy being a part of our family,  and so this sets expectations early and signals respect and inclusion.

RNN Group uses structured candidate short lists to get to the interviews and both of these activities are some of the most evidence-based ways to reduce bias and improve fairness. This means:

• Asking all candidates the same core questions.
• Scoring responses against clear, predefined criteria.
• Separating evidence from “gut feel”.

This supports fairness and equality, while still allowing space for follow-up questions where relevant.

Inclusive interviews focus on what candidates can do, not how closely they resemble existing team members. Effective questions:

• Are directly linked to the role requirements.
• Use behavioural or situational formats (e.g. “Tell me about a time when…”).
• Avoid assumptions about prior access to certain opportunities or environments.

This aligns strongly with equity, ensuring candidates are assessed on transferable skills, not privilege.

It is important to create a safe, welcoming and warm interview environment where respect and inclusion show up in small but powerful ways:

• Welcome candidates and ensure they have everything they need before the interview begins including a drink, that they are comfortable and they can ‘breathe’ and settle before the interview begins.
• Introduce the interview format clearly.
• Allow time for candidates to think before answering.
• Avoid interrupting or rushing responses.
• Offer reasonable adjustments without requiring candidates to over-explain.

When candidates feel safe, they perform better – and interviewers gain more accurate insights.

Even the best processes fail without skilled interviewers. Inclusive organisations invest in:

• Training on unconscious bias and decision-making.
• Understanding how bias can show up in communication styles, accents, confidence, or body language.
• Challenging assumptions around “professionalism” and “fit”.

This reinforces respect and fairness, while strengthening overall interview quality.

It is important to balance consistency with equity and while consistency is key, equity requires flexibility. For example:

• Recognising that some candidates may excel in written tasks rather than verbal responses.
• Valuing potential and learning agility alongside direct experience.
• Being mindful of how systemic barriers affect career pathways.

Inclusive hiring decisions are not about lowering standards – they are about broadening how excellence is recognised.

RNN Group is a Disability Confidence Employer

In addition to all of the above, as a Disability Confidence Employer too, RNN Group ensures that we support candidates with reasonable adjustments in both the application, interview and onboarding to ensure they can engage confidently and safely. 

A Disability Confident Employer is an organisation that has committed to fair, inclusive recruitment and to supporting disabled people and those with long-term health conditions at work. In practice, this means you should feel more confident asking for reasonable adjustments during RNN Group’s recruitment or employment, expect recruitment processes to be accessible and based on your abilities, and work in an environment where disability is taken seriously rather than being a disadvantage.

While it does not guarantee a job or automatic adjustments, RNN Group recognises our legal and moral responsibilities and aims to create a supportive, non-discriminatory workplace.

The candidate experience matters

Every interview as well as the before and after experience is also a reflection of your organisation’s values. Transparent communication, timely feedback, and respectful interactions demonstrate inclusion in action.

Remember, giving people time to choose interview slots if you don’t include a date on the advert is key as well as following up after when you say you will. Even unsuccessful candidates should leave feeling they were treated fairly and heard.

So embedding FREDIE into recruitment and interview practices is not a compliance exercise – it is a strategic advantage. Inclusive interviews lead to better hiring decisions, stronger teams, and workplaces where people can thrive.

By combining structured, evidence-based interview techniques with a genuine commitment to fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion, and equity, organisations can move beyond intention and into meaningful action.