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John O'Dea

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Director Exit Planning, D|A Financial Group

84 points

I am hired primarily by business owners to help them understand the exit paths available to them to monetize the value of their life's work.

I offer an outcome independent approach to uncover, articulate and prioritize the critical strategies ...

I am hired primarily by business owners to help them understand the exit paths available to them to monetize the value of their life's work.

I offer an outcome independent approach to uncover, articulate and prioritize the critical strategies that can be executed over a 3+ year period that will enable a business owner to increase enterprise value, retain control, and minimize taxation as they prepare for their next adventures.

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Sept. 29, 2011

John O'Dea answered this question at this roundtable

Learn How to Sustainably Innovate or Be Left Behind [9/28 @ 1 pm]

How can a community college student find entry level work at a startup?

Try to find an incubator nearby and do anything you can (answer phones, make copies , work social media, etc). there's a lot of business garbage that needs doing - benefits, payroll, insurance, basic tech ops, printing, binding, etc. more

Human Resources

Information Technology

Sept. 29, 2011

John O'Dea answered this question

Does anyone have a good career dialogue/development planning form?

A few are protected IP. You should be able to assemble something useable from a couple inexpensive tools.
My impression is that most of the productivity gains from development initiatives can have more to do with the great manager / employee conversations.
- manager demonstrates ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Employee Communications

Sept. 5, 2011

John O'Dea and 5 other people answered this question at this roundtable

#TChat Radio: The Realities of Business Heresy [8/31 @ 4 pm]

If you really want the best talent, do you have to always pay for it? What else is there?

@bob - I like how you pointed out the payscale / achievement issue. In many workplaces, 'conventional' creates a marketplace that overpays for certain attributes that may not directly correlate to desired outcomes. I have been thinking a lot about this since reading "Moneyball" about ... more

Customer Service

General Management

Human Resources

Aug. 9, 2011

John O'Dea and 13 other people answered this question

How do you measure leadership ability in the interview process?

I have a few challenges I can imagine for measuring leadership ability in the interview process.
First, the interview process seems so wrought with bias as to be almost unusable without real, focused behavioral training - which I don't have.
Then, my readings indicate that quantifying and/or ... more

General Management

Human Resources

July 28, 2011

John O'Dea and 3 other people answered this question at this roundtable

#TChat Radio: The Talent Biz [7/26 @ 5 pm]

How does employer brand play into talent acquisition? Retention?

I also see this coming up generationally and culturally. As we expand outside the U.S. - one employer I heard point out that their brand in India was hurting their ability to recruit the best. Young male engineers had better arranged marriage prospects if they ... more

General Management

Human Resources

July 28, 2011

John O'Dea and 38 other people answered this question

You own a popular local coffee shop, Starbucks moves across the street. What do you do to compete?

My initial reaction is to focus on that which is different - proximity to store owner. The teams at Starbucks are very good. The product is predicatble, the process ironed out, and can be a veyy high quality and repeatable process.
And, at some point becomes ... more

July 28, 2011

John O'Dea and 2 other people answered this question

How do I implement an effective succession plan for a company?

I am talking at a national webinar on Aug 25th on this topic hosted by HR Options. http://www.hroptions.com
First it is not easy and will depend greatly on size, industry, ownership structure and exit plan for the owner and their ownership value.
A large public traded ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Succession Planning

July 28, 2011

John O'Dea and 5 other people answered this question

How would you handle an employee who is eager for growth, but there are no opportunities in the Co.?

Depends on the talents of the individual, career path imagined, and real opportunities within and without the company.
I imagine that any business owner with that horsepower and quality buried in their company would die knowing they couldn't come up with something. Anything to retain ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Career Development

May 16, 2011

John O'Dea and 2 other people answered this question

What is the best way to challenge a leader of an organization, head-on assault or flanking approach?

Two thoughts. First, I have often 'seen' problems in bosses, owners, and leaders that changed with my own levels of responsibility. Once I personally owned that level of responsibility, my impression of the 'problem' changed with the broader perspective.
Once I have checked my ego and ... more

Customer Service

General Management

April 26, 2011

John O'Dea and 4 other people answered this question

What role should HR play in an organization's M&A activity?

I see both buy side and sell side M/A activity benefitting from HR and People Process expertise and counsel.
In private equity groups and at strategic buyers, post acquisition implementation will be people process heavy - who stays/goes, what processes stay go, how to help both ... more

General Management

Human Resources

April 22, 2011

John O'Dea and 7 other people answered this question

When founding a company what measures can you take to prevent disputes with your co-founders?

Try to get some understanding of how the enterprise is valued. Please also think to address issues of voluntary separation, involuntary separation, death, disability, divorce, and more.
Think about how the exit process will function in your operating and shareholder agreements.
Having up front agreements on org ... more

General Management

Dec. 7, 2010

John O'Dea and 5 other people answered this question

How can I recover from a mistake at work?

As with Fred, the earliest moment you uncover risk to a deadline needs to be elevated to negotiate alternative/reactions. There may be information unavailable to you that can help mitigate the negative reaction.
The process is broken - not you. You may not be able ... more

General Management

Crisis Management

Dec. 6, 2010

John O'Dea and 2 other people answered this question

How beneficial is it to provide financial advisors as part of my employees' benefits package?

I operate in an adjacent space and have no financial involvement in this industry. I do feel that financial education is important to employers in areas where it helps them increase the return on their investment in benefit dollars spent on employees.
My understanding is that ... more

Benefits Package

Employee Benefits

Financial Advisor

Dec. 6, 2010

John O'Dea answered this question

How do you create 'sticky' training?

Two thoughts sources of insight I might add.
1. Made to Stick. The Heath brothers wrote a pretty good book on getting ideas to stick in peoples brains. They used urban myths as their model to unpack for reuseable components to get ideas viral or sticky. ... more

Human Resources

Employee Coaching

Employee Training

Dec. 6, 2010

John O'Dea answered this question

How can I leverage my payroll experience to other jobs?

Jen - I wanted to offer something since I saw this post sit for a few days. I lack direct payroll experience. I have built relationships with folks who have come out of payroll.
Take the advice in the spirit with which it is given ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Payroll Management

Dec. 1, 2010

John O'Dea and 6 other people answered this question

Is hiring an art or a science?

I think every art form is elevated to the status of Art precisely because of the underlying specific artifacts, processes, and information (often described as science).
A world class pianist has logged over 10,000 hours of grueling, mind numbing practice and study of the processes ... more

Human Resources

Dec. 1, 2010

John O'Dea and 30 other people answered this question

Best Practices in Reducing Employee Turnover: What are your 3 tips for reducing employee turnover?

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose
I am flagrantly stealing from Dan Pinks research in his book Drive, regarding the best and most recent behavioral research regarding building a meaningful workplace connection that creates lasting mutual value.
Autonomy and control over the details of how a end result ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Employee Turnover

Dec. 1, 2010

John O'Dea and 1 other person answered this question

Is it ethical to negotiate my benefits package? What are your opinions?

Yes. Both you and your employer want you to be as happy as possible in your new endeavor. The cost of onboarding from the value lost per day an occupancy is not filled, to time, placement costs, and opportunity costs of a failed hire are ... more

Human Resources

Benefits Package

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