How HR professionals can build influence, evidence their impact and earn a strategic seat at the table, with Dr Melrona Kirrane, Professor of Leadership at DCU.

Episode overview

“Getting HR a seat at the boardroom table” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean? And how does an HR professional, especially in an SME, earn one?

In this episode of The HRLocker Room, HRLocker’s CEO, Crystel Robbins Rynne, sits down with Dr Melrona Kirrane, Professor of Leadership at Dublin City University, for a deep, practical conversation about influence, evidence and the language of business. Melrona argues that the boardroom isn’t really about furniture; it’s about being heard early in the decision‑making cycle, before the policies are written and the budgets are set.

Dr Kirrane’s central argument rests on the idea that HR is often the only function arriving at the table without numbers. Finance brings the quarterly results, sales brings the pipeline, and HR brings “our culture is great.” To shift that dynamic, Dr Kirrane says, HR professionals need to translate the work of people into metrics that business leaders recognise, like retention, churn, leadership effectiveness, psychological safety, and trust. And they need to lean on the academic literature they were trained in, because the evidence is already there.

Along the way, Dr Kirrane shares a case study of a small engineering company that used exit‑interview data to discover its young engineers weren’t leaving for more money. They were leaving for better opportunities for progression. Mapping out a clear growth path cut churn within three years. She also tackles the dark side of selection (the narcissist who charms the interview panel), the role of intrinsic motivation, and why the AI moment is HR’s biggest opportunity to claim the strategic work the machines can’t do.

If you work in HR and want to be heard, or are a business leader who wants to get more out of the function, this episode is for you.

Key topics we explore

  • What “a seat at the boardroom table” actually means and why it’s about influence, not furniture
  • Why HR is too often the only function showing up without metrics
  • How to translate people work into the language business leaders recognise, like turnover, churn, retention, and productivity
  • A real‑world case study: how exit‑interview data cut engineering churn in three years
  • The strategic metrics that matter most: culture, leadership effectiveness, trust, psychological safety
  • Why leadership is made, not born. And why leadership development carries massive ripple effects
  • Negotiating a longer time horizon because HR interventions don’t deliver in quarters
  • Personality and the 4 dark traits: selecting employees with conscientiousness in mind
  • Why AI and tech are HR’s biggest opportunity to claim the strategic work
  • What HR can learn from how COVID hybrid working diluted culture, mentoring and the experience of younger staff
  • Identity and professional confidence, claiming the HR professional role in everything you do.