How SSG’s ON IT Culture Informs Agent Talent Acquisition

ON IT culture is the foundation of operational discipline at Support Services Group (SSG). It guides every interaction, decision, and outcome across the business. Rather than separating philosophy from process, ON IT culture connects mindset to execution.

• Urgency: Acting decisively and serving with urgency in real time.
• Accountability: Taking full ownership of the outcome, not just the task.
• Transparency: Communicating clearly, especially under pressure.
• Alignment: Syncing teams across departments to reduce lag and variance.
• Follow-through: Finishing what’s started with speed and accuracy.
• Continuous improvement: Learning from data and acting on feedback loops.

Agent talent acquisition is one of the clearest demonstrations of how this culture works in practice. Every recruiting decision is shaped by a commitment to responsiveness, alignment, and measurable performance.

ON IT culture in agent talent acquisition

Most BPO recruiting models focus on speed and volume. SSG’s agent talent acquisition model focuses on fit, readiness, and durability. These outcomes are made possible by applying ON IT principles to every phase of the recruiting process.

Here’s how ON IT culture shows up in agent talent acquisition:

• Operational intake is mandatory: Talent acquisition begins with a cross-functional intake, including inputs from operations, workforce management, and client success teams. Recruiting does not move forward without a shared definition of what success looks like in the role.
• Time-to-hire is influenced, not just measured: Recruiting teams are held to service-level agreements tied to ramp schedules, not generic velocity targets. Line-of-sight forecasting allows recruiting to engage talent proactively before gaps become urgent.
• Candidate profiles are built by program: Each client program has its own recruiting blueprint. Traits like empathy, resilience, problem-solving, and product knowledge are prioritized based on the demands of the customer interaction.
• Success is tracked beyond day one: Agent talent acquisition success is evaluated over time, not just at the offer stage. Graduation from training, time to productivity, and early performance metrics are integrated into recruiting dashboards.
• Recruiting teams close the feedback loop: SSG recruiters meet regularly with training and operations to review hiring outcomes. This cadence allows the team to refine sourcing strategies, adjust assessments, and improve alignment continuously.

ON IT culture turns agent talent acquisition into a system of accountability — where every hire must earn value through performance.

Leading agent talent acquisition with operational expertise

Michael Duplessis — SSG’s Vice President of People and Talent Acquisition — leads agent talent acquisition with firsthand experience. His background includes frontline sales, contact center operations, scheduling, QA, and global recruiting leadership across telecom, healthcare, and automotive sectors.

Mike brings operational fluency to every recruiting decision. He understands what contact centers demand because he’s run them. He knows the dynamics of high-stakes support environments and what it takes for an agent to thrive under pressure. His leadership drives ON IT culture through agent talent acquisition in five ways:

1. Build infrastructure before urgency hits. Ramps don’t begin with job ads. They begin with forecasting and candidate pool development weeks or months ahead of go-live.
2. Treat talent acquisition as a lifecycle. Recruiters stay engaged long after the offer letter. Our 90-day post-hire checkpoints confirm whether each agent is still on track, aligned with expectations, and positioned to succeed.
3. Measures recruiting by outcomes, not volume. Recruiting performance is linked to client KPIs — CSAT, sales, FCR — not just headcount or funnel stats.
4. Align workforce management and talent acquisition. Recruiting strategies are synchronized with workforce management and staffing forecasts, allowing hiring efforts to match actual volume needs, seasonal peaks, and production timelines without last-minute friction.
5. Lead agent talent acquisition with intentionality and purpose. We view every job as a career milestone. Our team recruits with urgency because they understand the human and business stakes of every placement.

Under Mike’s leadership, agent talent acquisition operates as a precision function, rooted in accountability and built for scale.

Benefits of excellence in agent talent acquisition

SSG’s agent talent acquisition delivers — powered by ON IT culture — delivers tangible, measurable advantages to each of our clients. These benefits extend across CX performance, program stability, and long-term operational efficiency.

• Faster ramp and time to value: Agents are hired to exacting specifications and reach productivity faster due to better alignment between recruiting criteria and role requirements.
• Higher early-stage retention: Behavioral screening and cultural alignment reduce early attrition, stabilizing teams and protecting training investments.
• Stronger brand representation: Agents are selected for tone, style, and empathy fit, ensuring consistent CX and stronger emotional connections with end customers.
• Data-driven optimization: Clients gain insight into agent performance from day one. Recruiting data is integrated with WFM and QA to assess trends and fine-tune future campaigns.
• Seasonal and strategic scale with less risk: Proactive recruiting timelines and workforce forecasting minimize disruptions during seasonal surges, program launches, and geographic expansions.
• Unified team alignment: Client stakeholders experience less misalignment between hiring and delivery. Recruiting, training, and operations share performance ownership from intake to ramp.

SSG’s clients don’t just receive pure labor support — they receive an agent talent acquisition model engineered to drive consistent CX outcomes and partners who ensure that model is consistent and executed with excellence from day one.

Agent talent acquisition with operational precision

Agent talent acquisition at SSG is a reflection of its culture. ON IT culture provides the structure, urgency, and ownership required to build recruiting strategies that serve real business goals. Through operational alignment, lifecycle tracking, and accountability at every stage, SSG transforms hiring into an engine for client success.

With a leadership team that understands both the floor and the forecast, and a recruiting infrastructure tuned for adaptability and rigor, SSG delivers more than fill rates. We deliver readiness. We deliver results. We deliver agents who stay, perform, and support brands with precision.

Ready to see what ON-IT-powered agent talent acquisition can do for your business? Schedule a consultation.