As part of our HR Leaders Series, we sit down with experienced HR professionals to discuss their career journeys, lessons learned, and perspectives on the future of Human Resources.
In this edition, Mary Mullin speaks with Shauna Ryan, an experienced HR leader who has worked across multinational manufacturing, indigenous businesses, startups and consulting. Shauna shares insights into her career path, the importance of strengths-based development, and the evolving role of HR in today’s workplace.
Q1. Was this the career path you had always planned? What avenues did you take to bring you to where you are today?
Surprisingly, yes – at least to a certain extent. While still in secondary school, I decided I wanted to work in what was then called “Personnel”. I didn’t fully understand the profession at the time, but I knew it involved working with people, recruitment and employee relations. I remember telling my guidance counsellor that I wanted an office door with a plaque that read “Personnel Officer.”
That ambition led me to pursue a Business Studies degree with a HR specialism in the University of Limerick. While my destination remained clear, the journey itself was less structured than I originally imagined. Rather than following a carefully mapped-out plan, I focused on taking opportunities that would broaden my skills. Every role added something new. Some developed my people management capabilities, others strengthened my strategic thinking, coaching skills, or leadership experience. One role involved leading a team of approximately 30 people across multiple disciplines, which significantly enhanced my leadership skills. Other roles placed me at the centre of organisational change, helping me develop a stronger strategic and commercial mindset. Looking back, my career has been less about chasing a title and more about continuously adding new “strings to my bow.”
Entrepreneurship has also always been part of my story. I grew up in a family business environment, with my parents running a shop, restaurant and bar. The idea of eventually working for myself was always in the background. In 2016, after being made redundant, I considered launching my own business but felt I needed more experience. Ten years later, after gaining additional experience across sectors including multinational manufacturing, indigenous businesses and startups, I reached a point where I felt ready. Today, those combined experiences have given me the confidence to establish my own HR consultancy and support organisations through a broad range of people and business challenges.
Q2. What was the best piece of career advice you ever received?
Without a doubt, it is this: Know your strengths and use them. We all possess natural talents in how we think, behave and interact with others. When we invest in developing those talents, they become strengths. I’ve learned that when we work in areas that align with our strengths, we perform at our highest level. We gain energy from the work, become deeply engaged, and often achieve exceptional results with less effort than when trying to improve areas that don’t come naturally. Too often, people focus on their weaknesses and spend significant time trying to become competent in areas that may never be their strengths. While self-development is important, I believe real growth comes from understanding what you’re naturally good at and building on it. A pivotal moment for me came through strengths-based coaching work earlier in my career. During a coaching conversation, I realised that the aspects of HR I enjoyed most aligned directly with my core strengths, including communication, development and harmony. That insight helped me understand that my success wasn’t simply the result of hard work and study. It was also because I had found a profession that genuinely suited who I am. Even today, whether in business, consultancy or personal projects, I continue to apply the same principle: focus on your strengths and allow others to focus on theirs.
Q3. For those considering a career in Human Resources, what is one piece of advice you would give them?
My first piece of advice would be to keep your experience broad. HR is an incredibly diverse profession, covering recruitment, employee relations, learning and development, employee engagement, organisational change, communications, compliance and much more. Early in your career, I would encourage you to gain exposure to as many areas as possible. Experience across the full employee lifecycle provides valuable perspective and helps develop a deeper understanding of how organisations operate. A broad foundation ultimately creates more effective HR professionals because it enables them to connect people initiatives directly to business needs.
My second piece of advice is to obtain a recognised qualification. While experience is invaluable, HR professionals need a solid grounding in employment law, workplace investigations, conflict management, communication and best practice frameworks. A qualification provides that foundation and helps establish credibility. Importantly, it isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about understanding what questions need to be asked and recognising when further investigation is required. That ability is essential to becoming a trusted HR partner.
Q4. In your view, what are the top 3 strengths that define a successful HR professional today?
Adaptability
The workplace is changing faster than ever before. Generational shifts, evolving employee expectations, legislative developments, technological advances and new ways of working all require HR professionals to continuously adapt. What worked five years ago may not work today. HR leaders must be comfortable embracing change and helping organisations navigate it successfully.
Relationship Building
For me, this has been at the heart of my entire career. Strong relationships built on trust, respect and openness are fundamental to effective HR practice. Whether supporting employees, coaching managers, influencing leadership teams or navigating sensitive situations, relationships are what enable meaningful impact. One of my biggest professional learnings came during a fully remote role where I initially questioned how strong relationships could be built without face-to-face interaction. The experience taught me that meaningful relationships can absolutely be developed virtually when approached intentionally. It reinforced the importance of adaptability while highlighting that relationship-building remains essential regardless of the environment.
Commercial and Strategic Understanding
The most impactful HR professionals understand the business they support. HR must move beyond being purely operational and become a strategic partner involved in decision-making and organisational direction. That means understanding business challenges, operational realities and commercial priorities, while also advocating for people, culture, leadership development and employee experience. The strongest HR leaders successfully balance both perspectives.
Q5. Over your career, what would you consider to be your best memory or achievement?
One of the experiences I am most proud of was supporting the closure of a manufacturing facility early in my career. The process lasted approximately 18 months and involved significant organisational change, operational challenges and, most importantly, considerable uncertainty for employees. From the beginning, our focus was on ensuring people were treated with dignity, respect and empathy throughout the process. We established a cross-functional working group called “Respect” to ensure communication, support and employee wellbeing remained central to every decision.
While it was an incredibly difficult experience, it taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, communication, leadership and the human impact of organisational change. One of the most important lessons I learned was the distinction between empathy and sympathy. As HR professionals, we must understand people’s experiences and support them through challenges, while also maintaining the objectivity needed to help guide them forward. Looking back, I am proud of the role I played in helping people navigate a very difficult period with dignity and support.
Q6. If you were entering the workforce again, would you do anything differently?
Honestly, I don’t think I would. If I could change one thing, it might be having more confidence in myself earlier in my career. Like many professionals, I experienced moments of self-doubt and imposter syndrome, particularly when stepping into more senior roles. However, with hindsight, those doubts often pushed me to work harder, learn faster and continuously develop my skills. While I would have appreciated a little less anxiety at times, those experiences ultimately contributed to my growth and development.
Q7. If you weren’t in your current profession, what possible path would you have chosen?
This answer comes very easily to me. I would almost certainly own a shop, café, restaurant or hospitality business. Growing up in a family-run business environment gave me a real appreciation for customer interaction, community engagement and the energy that comes with running a business. I love the pace, the conversations and the connection with people. In another era, when small independent businesses were perhaps a more straightforward path, that’s likely the direction I would have taken. Fortunately, entrepreneurship still forms part of my journey today through both consultancy and other business ventures.
Thank you Shauna for sharing your career story which demonstrates the value of combining ambition with continuous learning, broad experience and a deep understanding of personal strengths. Your advice is particularly relevant for today’s HR professionals: stay adaptable, build strong relationships, understand the business, and focus on the strengths that allow you to make your greatest contribution. As the role of HR continues to evolve, these principles remain timeless foundations for success.
Shauna Ryan
People & Culture Consultant
