Diversity and inclusion training in Ireland has moved from a nice to have to a business essential. Irish organisations increasingly recognise that building inclusive workplaces isn’t just the right thing to do. It improves decision making, boosts innovation, attracts talent and reflects the communities they serve.
But here’s the challenge. Diversity and inclusion training done badly can actually make things worse. Poorly designed programmes can trigger defensiveness, reinforce stereotypes or feel like a box ticking exercise that changes nothing. The goal isn’t just to deliver training. It’s to shift mindsets and change behaviour.
At The Learning Rooms, we’ve been helping Irish organisations create meaningful diversity and inclusion training for over two decades. We know that real change requires thoughtful design, realistic scenarios and ongoing reinforcement.
Why diversity and inclusion training matters
Ireland’s workforce is more diverse than ever. People of different backgrounds, nationalities, abilities, ages and identities work side by side. Legislation like the Employment Equality Acts protect workers from discrimination. However, compliance should be seen as the floor, not the ceiling.
Truly inclusive organisations go further. They create environments where people feel they belong, where different perspectives are valued and where everyone can do their best work. Training plays a crucial role in building this culture, but only when it’s done well.
The problem with traditional approaches
Too much diversity and inclusion training falls into predictable traps. It lectures people about what they shouldn’t do rather than showing them what good looks like. Training uses abstract concepts without connecting them to real workplace situations. It treats diversity as a single training event rather than an ongoing conversation.
The result? People sit through the training, tick the box and go back to their desks unchanged. Or worse, they feel blamed and become resistant to the message.
Effective diversity and inclusion training in Ireland takes a different approach. It builds empathy through storytelling. Good training uses realistic scenarios where learners practice responding to challenging situations. It focuses on practical actions people can take, not just attitudes they should hold.
Our approach to diversity and inclusion training
We offer several ways to address your diversity and inclusion training needs, from ready to deploy courses to fully customised programmes.
Bespoke eLearning development
When your organisation needs training that reflects your specific culture, policies and challenges, bespoke eLearning development is the answer. We work closely with you to understand your context, your goals and the behaviours you want to encourage.
Our instructional designers create scenario based content that puts learners in realistic situations. They practice recognising bias, responding to inappropriate behaviour and supporting colleagues. This isn’t about lecturing people on what’s wrong. It’s about building the skills to do what’s right.
Rapid eLearning development
Sometimes you need quality diversity and inclusion training delivered quickly. Perhaps you’re responding to an incident, rolling out a new policy or preparing for a specific event. Our rapid eLearning service creates professionally designed content on shorter timelines. It’s quick to develop but doesn’t compromise on the thoughtful approach these sensitive topics require.
Off the shelf eLearning
For foundational diversity and inclusion topics, our off the shelf catalogue provides a cost effective starting point. These courses cover essential areas and can be deployed immediately through your LMS. They’re ideal for establishing baseline awareness across your organisation.
Tailored eLearning
Sometimes you want the speed and affordability of off the shelf content, but with a more personalised feel. Our tailored eLearning service takes eLearning courses from our catalogue and adapts them to your organisation. We can add your branding, incorporate your specific policies, include scenarios that reflect your workplace and feature your own people. This gives learners content that feels relevant without the time and cost of building from scratch.
Build your own with eXcolo
If your L&D team wants to develop diversity and inclusion training in house, our eXcolo Toolkit provides everything you need. It includes Instructional Design training, Articulate Storyline training, Articulate Storyline templates, resources and ongoing support to help you create engaging eLearning content yourselves. This works well for organisations that want to create content reflecting their unique culture or need to update materials frequently.
Diversity and inclusion training we’ve delivered
We’ve worked with organisations across multiple sectors to create diversity and inclusion eLearning that genuinely shifts culture. Here are some examples.
- Being an Active Bystander for Ireland’s arts and creative sectors. Working with Screen Ireland and the Irish Theatre Institute, we developed a one hour eLearning module on being an active bystander. The course helps people working in Ireland’s arts and creative sectors recognise problematic behaviour and intervene safely. They learn practical techniques for interrupting inappropriate behaviour without escalating situations or putting themselves at risk. It has been translated into Irish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese to reach the diverse workforce in Ireland’s creative industries.
- Bullying and harassment training for Safe to Create. As part of the Safe to Create initiative, we developed eLearning addressing bullying and harassment in Ireland’s arts and creative sectors. These industries present unique challenges, with freelance workers, power imbalances and informal working relationships. The training helps people understand what constitutes bullying and harassment, how to respond if they experience or witness it, and how to contribute to a respectful working environment.
- Unconscious bias training for the arts. We created unconscious bias eLearning for Ireland’s arts and creative sectors, helping people understand how bias affects decision making in areas like hiring, commissioning and collaboration. The course moves beyond awareness to practical strategies for interrupting bias in everyday situations.
- Building a respectful culture at UCD. We partnered with University College Dublin to create eLearning on bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and active bystander intervention. The training helps students and staff understand what respectful behaviour looks like, how to recognise when boundaries are crossed and how to respond appropriately.
- Active* Consent. Our work with Active* Consent at NUI Galway focused on sexual violence and harassment training for third level students. We also developed the “Sex on our Screens” programme, building critical sexual literacy skills. These projects show how sensitive topics can be addressed effectively through well designed eLearning.
What makes diversity and inclusion training effective?
Based on our experience, the most impactful diversity and inclusion training shares several characteristics.
- It builds empathy, not guilt. The goal is to help people understand different perspectives, not to make them feel blamed or defensive. Storytelling and first person accounts are powerful tools for building genuine understanding.
- It’s scenario based. Abstract principles only go so far. Learners need to practice applying them in realistic situations. What do you actually say when a colleague makes an inappropriate comment? How do you challenge bias in a hiring decision? Scenarios let people rehearse these moments.
- It focuses on action. Awareness is a starting point, not an endpoint. Effective training gives people concrete tools and techniques they can use. Active bystander training is a good example, teaching specific intervention strategies rather than just explaining why intervention matters.
- It reflects your workplace. Generic scenarios feel disconnected. When learners see their own environment, their own challenges and their own colleagues reflected in the training, they engage more deeply.
- It’s part of a broader strategy. Training alone doesn’t change culture. It needs to be reinforced by leadership behaviour, policies, processes and ongoing conversation. The best training programmes are designed as part of a wider inclusion strategy.
Topics we cover
Diversity and inclusion is a broad area. The Learning Rooms can help with training on specific topics, including:
- Unconscious bias — Understanding how bias affects decision making and strategies for interrupting it
- Active bystander intervention — Practical skills for safely challenging inappropriate behaviour
- Bullying and harassment — Recognising, preventing and responding to workplace bullying
- LGBTQ+ inclusion — Building workplaces where everyone can be themselves
- Cultural awareness — Working effectively with colleagues and customers from different backgrounds
Getting started with diversity and inclusion training in Ireland
If you’re looking to develop diversity and inclusion training in Ireland that actually changes behaviour, we’d love to talk. Whether you need a comprehensive programme covering multiple topics or focused training on a specific area like unconscious bias or bystander intervention, we can help.
We’ll work with you to understand your goals, your culture and your challenges. Then we’ll create training that feels relevant to your people and drives the outcomes you’re looking for.
Get in touch to discuss your diversity and inclusion training needs.
