Human Solutions: Simplifying HR for People who Love HR

Every HR professional knows the feeling: a complaint comes in, and you sense that whatever you do next could be read back to you under oath. This week, Pete Wright sits down with AIM HR Solutions' Sarah Piscatelli and Tom Jones to talk through how to run a workplace investigation that actually holds up — starting with the question employers ask most, "Do I even have to investigate?" From anonymous...

Employers love the idea of a hiring tool that does the hard work for them — a test that surfaces the right candidate before the interview even starts. But the gap between a useful assessment and a discrimination claim is narrower than most HR leaders realize, and in Massachusetts, the ground keeps shifting underneath them. This month, Terry Cook and Sarah Piscatelli walk Pete through the real stak...

Here's a question worth sitting with before we get into it: when's the last time a new hire walked into your organization and really landed ? Not just completed their paperwork, not just got their badge and their laptop — but actually felt like they understood where they were, why it mattered, and where they fit in it? Because if you're like most employers, you're probably conflating two things th...

Manufacturing is one of those environments that exposes every gap in your HR infrastructure fast. When you're covering three shifts, managing safety committees, handling workers' comp, and trying to get information to people who don't have a company email address, "strategic HR" starts to feel like a luxury. This episode, Terry Cook and Stacey Wenczel join Pete to talk about what it actually looks...

Bonding leave sounds straightforward: an employee has a baby, takes time off, and returns to work. But Sarah Piscatelli and Mary McNally from AIM HR Solutions know that the space between a well-intentioned law and its practical implementation is where almost every employer gets stuck. Not because the law is unclear, but because making it work requires navigating overlapping state and federal regul...

The workplace in 2025 feels like it's moving at double speed. Federal contractors saw affirmative action requirements disappear virtually overnight. DEI programs have gone from top priority to barely mentioned in less than a year. AI is racing ahead of regulation, and states like Massachusetts are charting their own course while the federal government pulls in the opposite direction. Pete Wright s...

There is a specific moment in the life of a Human Resources professional that is fraught with a peculiar kind of tension. It happens when a door opens, an employee sits down, and they say, simply, "I need something to change." We like to think of the workplace as a rational machine, governed by clear inputs and outputs. But what happens when the machine encounters the messy, unpredictable reality...

There’s a moment every HR professional remembers — that first email, that first conversation, that first tremor in the air when “return to office” stopped being a policy discussion and started being personal. Three years ago, the message was simple: Stay home, stay safe. Now it’s: Come back. And in between, everything about how we work — and what we value — has changed. In this episode of Human So...

We like to think numbers are neutral. Post a range, satisfy a rule, move on. But in practice, a salary range is a story: a public promise about who you are as an employer and how decisions get made when nobody’s in the room. With the October 29 go-live for Massachusetts pay transparency, that story becomes visible. In this conversation, Kyle Pardo and Dan Baker map the terrain employers actually f...

We like to think the workplace is a place of routine—a clock in, clock out kind of world. But for many immigrants, and for the employers who hire them, work has become a legal maze. Today, we look at what it means to operate in the shadow of ICE, to lead in the face of changing rules, and to humanize the labor force behind the policy headlines. Welcome to this special episode of Human Solutions: S...

AI is already showing up in HR, whether it’s writing job posts, drafting performance reviews, or powering employee chatbots. But when does it actually help, and when does it cross the line into risk? In this episode of Human Solutions , Pete Wright sits down with Kyle Pardo and Terry Cook to talk through the real-world ways AI is being used in HR today—and the very real challenges it brings with i...

This one’s a little different. You asked what’s keeping you up at night—and Pete, Sarah, and Terry actually answered. From the deceptively simple (Can someone choose unpaid time off?) to the maddeningly vague (How do we roll out new policies when everything’s constantly changing?), Terry Cook brings the practical, and Sarah Piscatelli brings the legal. Together, they walk a clean line between “it...

A CEO hosts a party to boost morale—and ends up with a workers’ comp claim. A casual breakroom conversation erupts into political tension. A flexible work request triggers a ripple effect no one saw coming. In this episode, Tom Jones and Steve Pangione of AIM HR Solutions join us to unpack the hidden risks HR professionals face in the name of employee engagement. We explore the legal implications...

When we talk about workplace culture, we often focus on perks—remote work, flexible schedules, and ping-pong tables in the breakroom. But underneath it all, there’s something far more consequential that speaks volumes about what an organization truly values: how openly it talks about pay. Pay transparency has moved from taboo to table stakes. As new laws roll out for us in Mass... and in states be...

There’s a particular moment—somewhere between noticing a scent that shouldn’t be there and sitting someone down to talk about it—that HR becomes more than just policy. It becomes anthropology. This month on Human Solutions , Pete Wright sits down with Terry Cook and Tom Jones for a course in navigating the most uncomfortable corners of professional HR—body odor, domestic violence, and workplace im...

Think about trust. Trust is the invisible currency of the workplace. It’s the unspoken agreement between employer and employee that we’ll act in good faith, that we’re all playing by the same rules. But what happens when that trust is tested? Imagine this: An employee requests bereavement leave, but the employer isn’t sure if the request is genuine. Can they ask for an obituary as proof? Or pictur...

In this episode of Human Solutions, Pete Wright sits down with two seasoned HR professionals—Lucille Ward from Package Steel Systems and Terry Cook from AIM HR Solutions—to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities in human resources for the manufacturing industry. As manufacturing faces a shortage of skilled workers, companies are struggling to find the right talent to fill positions like m...

How much money do you make? If just hearing that question makes all the little hairs stand up on the back of your neck, you might be a Gen X HR manager.  This week on the show we’re talking all about Pay Equity and and the proposed legislation on Pay Transparency that might just have an impact on the way we talk about pay at work. Joining us are our own industry experts Kyle Pardo and Sarah Piscat...

Are you making use of all the development resources available to your organization? Based on the questions we get from our members, the answer is probably “no.” Today, we’re going to give you a new direction for workforce training just for our local Massachusetts member companies. Rob Duncan is the Director of the Workforce Training Fund Programs at Commonwealth Corporation, and Jen Moff is Vice P...

This week, Pete Wright digs into the complex and sometimes contradictory world of workplace wellness programs with guest Jen Moff, VP of Learning Development at AIM HR Solutions. Pete and Jen examine a controversial study from an Oxford researcher who found that, with the exception of volunteer work, most workplace wellness initiatives provide little to no benefit for employees' wellbeing. The stu...

What do you know about coaching? If you’ve never taken part in a coaching relationship, you just might be carrying around some assumptions based more on myth than reality, and today, we’re going to help you see the light. It’s an often-misunderstood practice that can help high-potential employees mature in your organization and seasoned pros through big career transitions. To help us better unders...

Ever wonder what the most common questions HR professionals grapple with are? In this episode Pete sits down with AIM HR Solutions team members, Tom Jones and Terry Cook, who bring their expertise to the forefront on pressing HR issues. The discussion is centered around the popular topics we often hear about on our helpline.  We navigate topics like understanding Massachusetts's PFMLA and its impl...

In the rich tapestry of today's workforce, the threads of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are not just woven in; they're becoming the very fabric of organizational culture. It's a bold experiment that promises to reshape the corporate landscape, but what does it really take to dye these threads into the cloth of our companies?  Imagine a workplace where the mosaic of its people's background...

What should HR professionals be thinking about from a compliance/best practice standpoint for 2024?  In the fast-paced world of HR, juggling today's challenges while anticipating tomorrow's trends is crucial.  This week, we cut through the noise, offering a blend of expert predictions and actionable insights. Kyle Pardo and Tom Jones join Pete Wright to tackle everything from the intricacies of cu...

Turn on those podcast notifications beacuse Human Solutions is about ready to launch Season 5!