Marica Colic leads Accounting Shared Services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Tarkett, a function she built from scratch during the pandemic. A Talent in WIL Europe’s 11th edition of the Women Talent Pool (WTP) Programme, Marica discusses how she balances standardisation with cultural diversity, what it takes to scale a finance function, and why psychological safety sits at the heart of her leadership.

Interviewed by Daniela Sosa

You are currently Head of Accounting Shared Services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Tarkett, and you have more than ten years of experience in international finance and operations. Could you describe your current role and your main objectives?

I lead the Accounting Shared Services function at Tarkett across 11 countries in the EMEA region. It's a genuinely multicultural and complex environment with a different organisational structure for each locale. My team consists of 43 people, all of whom are women except for one, so this is very much a women-empowering organisation.

In finance, accuracy and timeliness are essential, while operational excellence remains at the core of my role. When I first came to the company during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to start from scratch to establish a shared service centre, from finding a location, equipment to the people to designing the organisational structure. It was all the more challenging to figure things out remotely, since we couldn't visit the countries in person to transfer tasks. My role has evolved with each phase of development of the centre: first getting the operations running, then finding the right team and transferring tasks.

Today, I focus on supporting growth, ensuring the organisation is more scalable and resilient, and continuously improving both our processes and our people. I believe that for every manager, process improvement and standardisation must go hand-in-hand with strengthening the relationship between all stakeholders. That is why I strive to dedicate myself to developing people in my team through coaching, providing timely feedback as well as new frameworks and mindset to drive the organization forward.  

Working across multiple EMEA countries means constantly navigating different working norms, cultural realities and communication styles. How do you balance harmonised process standards with letting teams keep their own way of working? How has this experience shaped your perspective on diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

Standardisation is an important topic for any shared service centre or centre of excellence. What I've found essential is to standardise the outcome, rather than the path that leads to it.

Working across such different cultures and environments becomes an advantage here. It offers a huge richness in terms of communication styles and refreshing ideas to achieve the same results but taking different paths. Thus, rather than asking everyone to work in exactly the same way, I focus my teams on the outcome we're trying to achieve.

At the same time, to generate ideas and solutions, rather than friction, from those differences, people need to feel psychologically safe and encouraged. When team members are willing to ask questions and challenge assumptions, it contributes to the benefits of our accounting share services. Therefore, maintaining diversity actually helps us to reach our goals easier.

What I've found essential is to standardise the outcome, not the path that leads to it.

You have built and led regional finance teams and supported growth in fast-changing environments. What is your approach to scaling up a finance function within a complex organisation like Tarkett? 

There are three main contributors to every organisation: people, technology and standardisation. The success of an organisation requires a fine balance between all three.

Firstly, investing in people should always be the main focus. In this case, investment is not just about operational knowledge. It should also cover soft skills and communication for comprehensive human capital development. At the same time, building trust and a safe environment is also key to encouraging mutual sharing and learning, even when mistakes happen, which ultimately facilitate standardisation.

Technology also matters, especially in the current context. The wise usage of technology can contribute to human development. If AI and automation can handle basic and repetitive tasks, teams have more time to dedicate to more intellectually challenging work, thereby driving growth and supporting our aspiration to move toward a centre of excellence with high-quality offers to our customers.

There are three main contributors to every organisation: people, technology and standardisation. The success of an organisation requires a fine balance between all three.

Your leadership has evolved from a strong focus on operational delivery towards strategic thinking. How do you decide which problems need an immediate response and which need a long-term approach?

This is something I have learned through many years of experience in finance and accounting. Whenever I face an issue, my first question is: what's the risk, to the company, to clients, and to costs? That quick analysis shapes my next move.

The second question that comes to mind is whether we're looking at a root cause or it is just a symptom of something bigger. Reacting immediately, without deeper analysis and strategic actions, means the same problem can resurface. Therefore, depending on the level of severity and risk, I'll decide whether to take immediate actions or choose to deal with the problem after proper analyses to identify root causes.

Regardless, I always try to strike a balance between short-term stability and long-term improvement. Instead of halting the operation entirely, I try to take short-term steps to maintain stability while conducting deeper analysis and ultimately put in place more sustainable improvement for the future.

Whenever I face an issue, my first question is: what's the risk, to the company, to clients, and to costs? That quick analysis shapes my next move.

You believe leadership is less about having all the answers and more about creating the emotional conditions for people to feel safe, contribute and grow. In a finance function where accuracy matters, how do you build a culture where people's development and high performance reinforce each other?

For me, it always comes back to psychological safety and trust. Neither is easy to achieve, but once you have them, everything else becomes much easier.

The first step to establishing an ideal environment for people’s development is to always be very open. Expectations must be made early and clearly, so that each team member can hold their part of accountability by asking questions, challenge opinions and propose solutions. Throughout all of this, I also encourage ownership by allowing teams to have freedom in how they approach their tasks, come up with ideas and step up when making mistakes.

You are a talent in WIL Europe's 11^th edition of the Women Talent Pool Programme. What has this experience been like so far?

This has been a wonderful experience for me, from learning new skills, confirming my points of view to being challenged on some others. I really enjoy hearing from other women in the programme, all with such rich experiences and stories to share.

What I have noticed so far is how the programme has strengthened my self- confidence. Being able to listen to similar experiences and relatable stories from women far more experienced than I am, has reaffirmed me that I am on a good path, event in moments of doubt.

Secondly, the exchanges have also given me a lot of different angles and challenged my ways of thinking. There is always something new to learn and discover when having a conversation with these talented leaders, which I am truly grateful for.