Quality of Hire and High-Volume Forecasting

Chris Hoyt: So I’ve got this sit-stand desk that I have, Nicole, but I just sit at it. I don’t really stand at it. So we bought this attachment—this is gonna sound ridiculous—for the treadmill. We have a gym here in the house, and it straps onto the treadmill.

Nicole DeLue: Okay, and it’s for your…?

Chris Hoyt: Laptop? Yeah, it’s for this laptop I have. So maybe I’m working while I’m walking. I did a six-mile walk the other day while answering emails, and the saving grace was using voice to text—because otherwise it’s kind of hard to type.

Nicole DeLue: A little awkward to type.

Chris Hoyt: Yeah, it’s a little weird. I look like a T-Rex up there trying to type. But I have to say, this idea of a walking pad is appealing to me. So that’s what a walking pad is?

Nicole DeLue: Yeah, Jerry, it’s more like a lightweight treadmill that you can carry. I literally carried it into corporate. I’ve had three surgeries on one leg—between soccer and rugby—so keeping my ligaments moving throughout the day is key. I’m in meetings all day, so when I’m not leading, when I’m not going to be out of breath through my walk, I try to get my steps in and get the blood moving.

Gerry Crispin: I’m not sure I can walk and talk at the same time.

Nicole DeLue: It’s an art.

Chris Hoyt: We had a guy in our meetings during the pandemic, and he was always… it was this whole thing.

Nicole DeLue: Distracting. That’s why I don’t do it when I’m leading meetings. I’m in the background, maybe just observing—not on video.

Chris Hoyt: Yeah, I was like, is he in a boat? What’s he doing? Just bobbing, rowing… And you like it? You enjoy it?

Nicole DeLue: I love it.

Chris Hoyt: I might circle back for some recommendations. And they’re not expensive.

Nicole DeLue: They’re really not. I think the one I have here was like 175 bucks.

Chris Hoyt: Oh yeah, that’s about what we’re looking at.

Nicole DeLue: Yeah.

Chris Hoyt: Oh man. I’ll take a brand recommendation. You know, Nicole, we started—are you on Strava?

Nicole DeLue: No.

Chris Hoyt: Oh, you’re an athlete. This is lovely. I’m gonna pitch this to you. We started this thing we’re calling “Talent Acquisition in Motion”—Team TAIM. We’re on Strava, we have a little group, maybe a dozen of us. The challenge is intentional activity—at least 15 minutes, five days a week. It could be a short walk or an actual workout. You can connect it to Tonal, your treadmill, Peloton—whatever.

Nicole DeLue: What’s your workout?

Gerry Crispin: For me, my bare minimum is I walk down a hill and back up.

Nicole DeLue: You’re not doing burpees every day?

Gerry Crispin: One mile. I walk into the village, come back.

Chris Hoyt: Jerry, are there two weights you’re carrying shaped like bottles coming back from the village?

Gerry Crispin: No, I’d wear something I could put them in a backpack. No, no, it’s too hard otherwise.

Chris Hoyt: We have a Tonal machine here at the house. Best piece of equipment we’ve bought—bought it during the pandemic. Best thing I’ve ever purchased.

Nicole DeLue: My peer has one and brags about it all the time.

Chris Hoyt: So good.

Nicole DeLue: I need to go to the gym though—go to a class. After being an athlete for so long, I just need someone to give me that nudge. Otherwise, I’m gonna get in like a 60% workout. I don’t trust myself.

Gerry Crispin: I almost did a workout the other day—started to shovel snow and then my daughter showed up and said, “You can’t do that.”

Nicole DeLue: It’s a good workout though—burns a lot of calories.

Chris Hoyt: Yeah. Why does nobody come into the gym and say, “Get off that bike! You can’t do that—I’ll do that for you.” Oh man. Alright, we do have some fun stuff to talk about today—work-related. Are you ready to jump in?

Nicole DeLue: I’m ready.

Chris Hoyt: Here we go.

Announcer: Welcome to the CXR channel, our premier podcast for talent acquisition and talent management. Listen in as the CXR community discusses a wide range of topics focused on attracting, engaging, and retaining the best talent. We’re glad you’re here.

Chris Hoyt: Oh, Jerry, I’m gonna miss that soundtrack. The new one is here; I just haven’t had a chance to update it. You’re gonna miss it. It’s cool. We have a semi-famous announcer now who’ll do our intro—once I get around to it.

For those just joining, welcome to the Recruiting Community Podcast. We’re bringing industry insights and updates in the form of a fun conversation. It’s fun for us anyway, and all brought to you by the CXR (CareerXroads) community.

Today we’ve got Nicole DeLue. She’s the Head of TA, Frontline Employment at EchoStar. We’re going to talk about quality of hire in some of the toughest jobs out there—high-volume frontline appointments. Some of the toughest roles to recruit for.

Before we get in, we stream this on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitch—not BlueSky yet, but we’re getting there. You can check out past and future episodes at cxr.works/podcast. If you’re watching this live on LinkedIn and have questions for Nicole or just want to say hello, drop a comment— we’ll get back to you.

And remember, this is an ad-free labor of love. Nobody’s getting paid to be on here. If you’re on here, it’s because you got an invitation and you’re doing some cool stuff.

Gerry Crispin: Sounds perfect.

Chris Hoyt: Alright, let’s bring our guest back in. Nicole, welcome! We’re gonna move you over to the big kid chair. How are you?

Nicole DeLue: I’m good, how are you guys?

Chris Hoyt: Good. We’re glad you’re joining us. Let’s jump in. I want to hear your elevator pitch. I know you’re heading frontline recruiting at EchoStar, you’ve done consulting, been a recruiting leader at Amazon, and a VP of TA—but tell us a bit more about your current role and why we should be paying attention to you.

Nicole DeLue: First of all, thanks for having me—I really appreciate the opportunity.

My role here at EchoStar is leading all frontline recruiting. That includes any role that touches our customer: customer service, inbound sales, and our technicians. I support hires across Dish TV, Boost Mobile—which we’re really investing in—and Hughes.

I support about 2,000 hires a year here.

Why pay attention to me? I totally geek out on data. The first half of my career was in tech recruiting—talking to engineers all the time made me curious about the data behind things. I don’t just look at surface-level metrics—I double, triple-click down into the data and use it to iterate and improve.

Chris Hoyt: I love it. And I’m stealing “triple-click.” That’s going in the toolbox.

Nicole DeLue: My team teases me about it. They’re like, “Did you triple-click into the data? Nicole’s going to ask!”

Chris Hoyt: I’ve got a soft spot for what you do. I was responsible for frontline hiring when I was at AT&T. That’s tough work. I was filling jobs for 411 operators—we were doing 12- and 24-person classes each week. It was a machine.

Nicole DeLue: Yeah. When I was at Amazon, especially when I moved to the advertising org, I was about 50/50 between high-volume non-tech and high-tech. This is my first purely frontline role, and I was excited about it. It’s a different beast, and you need the time to really focus on it.

Chris Hoyt: And it’s funny—not a lot has changed in that space over 25 years. But now we’re talking about measuring quality of hire—which we never even considered back then.

Nicole DeLue: Yeah. It used to be: “Are people showing up on Day One?” That’s where we started.

Chris Hoyt: Have you had anyone show up that you didn’t hire?

Nicole DeLue: Not that I’m aware of. We’ve had people show up to hiring events who weren’t invited—but not to Day One training.

Chris Hoyt: We had folks sit through three days of training before realizing we never hired them—and then we had to pay them. Wild times.

Let’s set the stage—what does “quality of hire” mean for frontline workers at EchoStar? How are you measuring it?

Nicole DeLue: Great question. First, before you even think about measuring quality of hire, you have to align with your stakeholders. Are we all on the same page about the skills and competencies we’re hiring for? Are we assessing for the right things?

Once you’re aligned and your process is validated, the biggest quality metric for us is retention.

Chris Hoyt: Makes sense. Especially in a call center environment, those metrics are already baked in.

Nicole DeLue: Exactly. For us, if someone makes it past 90 days, they’re likely to stick. The first 30 days are crucial—and I consider that squarely TA’s responsibility.

Chris Hoyt: So how far out do you measure quality of hire?

Nicole DeLue: That’s our next step. We’ve spent the past year revamping our processes—some were 20+ years old. There was a lot of duplication and misalignment. We had to build trust with stakeholders who’ve been here a long time. And now we’re starting to look at longer-term metrics beyond 90 days.

Chris Hoyt: Are you seeing differences between frontline and corporate hiring in how you define quality?

Nicole DeLue: Absolutely. On the corporate side, quality is tied to ramp time, culture fit, leadership capability, etc. For frontline, it’s more about transferable skills. So retention ends up being the best measure for now.

Chris Hoyt: Anything else that’s been especially effective in attracting better-fit frontline candidates?

Nicole DeLue: Transparency. We’re trying to be more upfront about the job—what it is, what it isn’t. Realistic job previews help candidates opt out before they even apply. That alone improves quality.

Gerry Crispin: Transparency is huge—it impacts their decision more than ours. It’s about “will I do this job,” not just “can I.”

Nicole DeLue: Exactly.

Gerry Crispin: Are you using any formal assessments?

Nicole DeLue: Yes. We implemented a new skills-based assessment after doing validation studies with hundreds of current employees. Candidates get rated from “not recommended” to “strongly recommended,” and we’re now starting to correlate that with retention and promotions.

Chris Hoyt: Any other tech you’re using?

Nicole DeLue: We use Crosschq for references and quality of hire. We actually used to do references for frontline—which was… wild. But their platform helped validate some of the skills we’re now assessing for.

Chris Hoyt: Love that you’re in the data. That gives recruiters so much credibility.

Nicole DeLue: We’ve been upskilling our whole team. I’m proud of how much they’re embracing it.

Chris Hoyt: If you could change one thing about how the industry hires frontline workers, what would it be?

Nicole DeLue: More empathy. Frontline workers often don’t get the same grace as corporate hires. We need to treat them better, support them more, and help them see career paths. If we don’t invest in coaching, they won’t stay.

Chris Hoyt: Alright, last question. If you were going to write a book on this topic, what would the title be?

Nicole DeLue: The Art of Demystifying Quality of Hire.

Chris Hoyt: Love it. Who gets the first signed copy?

Nicole DeLue: My dad. I’m a daddy’s girl.

Chris Hoyt: That’s awesome. Nicole, we know you’re super busy—huge respect for the work you’re doing. Thanks so much for making time today.

Nicole DeLue: Thanks! Appreciate your time, guys. Have a great day.

Chris Hoyt: And for everyone else, check us out at cxr.works/podcast. Like, subscribe, hit all the buttons. We’ll see you next time.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the CXR channel. Please subscribe to CXR on your favorite podcast resource and leave us a review. Learn more at cxr.works, facebook.com and twitter.com/careerxroads, and on Instagram at @careerxroads. We’ll catch you next time.