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From “Crisis” to Center of Excellence

Positive Psychology working with a passionate team generates measurable success!

Snapshot

Organization

Global enterprise – Finance division (13 employees serving 3,000 + internal customers)

Trigger

Chronic performance‑management issues; finance seen as a service bottleneck, not a strategic partner

Intervention

Newly hired Finance Director introduced the  SOAR framework (Strengths · Opportunities · Aspirations · Results) as the backbone of a multi‑level coaching system

Timeframe

12 months from first SOAR workshop to full departmental turnaround

Headline Results• All core finance processes streamlined or standardised• Forecasts delivered on time with near‑zero variance• Scorecards adopted by business units; finance recognised as a “center of excellence”• Millions saved through improved decision analysis & product‑costing model

The Challenge

The finance team’s reputation had sunk:

Late, error‑prone forecasts

Ad‑hoc workflows that differed by analyst

Little visibility for the 3,000 staff who relied on finance data

With strategy retreats long on slide decks and short on follow‑through, morale and credibility were at a low ebb.

The SOAR‑Driven Solution

The incoming Finance Director reframed turnaround as capacity‑building, not firefighting.
Her playbook:

Department‑wide SOAR Planning Day
Paired interviews → shared narrative
Outputs: agreed values, vision, mission and 4 strategic initiatives.

Coaching Infrastructure Using SOAR

  • Strategic Planning (Annual): Full department sessions to align on vision, values, and strategic initiatives.
  • Strategic Reviews (Monthly): Project teams review progress and receive feed-forward coaching.
  • Daily Stand-ups (Daily): Team leads coordinate work, share successes, and surface learnings.
  • 1-on-1 Check-ins (Weekly): Individual support and progress coaching.
  • Career Development (Monthly/Quarterly): Development conversations tied to aspirations and growth.
  • Performance Reviews (Annual): Evaluations framed by SOAR, focused on outcomes and learning.

Team Charters and Scorecards

  • Four cross-functional teams were assigned to lead each strategic initiative.
  • SOAR-based questions were used to set goals and define key performance indicators.

Individual Coaching

  • Weekly and quarterly SOAR coaching sessions were held with each employee.
  • Sessions focused on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and measurable results.

Co-Creation Breeds Commitment!

Every employee helped write the vision and initiatives. Positive lens fuels energy. SOAR’s focus on possibilities—rather than deficits—built psychological safety for change. Rhythm replaces once‑a‑year events. Daily, weekly and monthly coaching conversations kept strategy “alive in the minds of the people.” Multi‑level alignment. Department, team and individual goals nested within one SOAR framework. Lessons for Leaders Start with dialogue, not directives. Paired SOAR interviews unearthed latent strengths and opportunities in just one day. Make coaching structural. Embed check‑ins and reviews in the calendar before launching initiatives. Pair metrics with meaning. Scorecards told leaders what was happening; SOAR conversations explained why and how to improve. Celebrate micro‑pivots. Publicly recognise small wins to compound momentum.

100%

core finance processes were streamlined or standardized.

0%

The department achieved a “three-day close” and 0% variances in forecasts.

See how we can do
this for you.

Work with Enhance and you tap into battle-tested executive with 30-plus years of “been-there, fixed-that” experience. We’ve solved the problem you’re facing, know the pitfalls to dodge, and bring the exact tools and systems that turn obstacles into breakthroughs. Let’s put that firepower to work and lift your organization to its next level of success.

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