Turkish delegates visit Naperville

Naperville officials take a lot of pride in being a leader in several areas, whether it be working with environmentally friendly technology or building a carillon.

They can add government operations to that list following a Wednesday morning visit by six members of the Turkish Prime Ministry.

The group from Ankara, Turkey is involved in Northern Illinois University's Public Management and Leadership Certification Program and visited city hall to learn about Naperville, its city manager form of government and its human resource practices.

NIU adjunct professor Manu Vora said the visitors from Turkey are experts in human resources. “They are hoping to learn how the great city of Naperville manages all of their employees and what practices they can take from here and apply them when they go back to Turkey,” he said.

Vora said Turkey has been very active in sending delegates to leading cities and countries across the globe to network and learn new ways of being more efficient.

“Turkey is now one of the fastest growing countries in the world, besides China,” Vora said. “So they are sending officers out every year to learn new things. They are involved in a continuous learning process.”

On Wednesday, the group was greeted by Mayor George Pradel, had a round-table discussion with the city's human resources staff and participated in a question-and-answer session with Councilman Doug Krause.

The visitors included Murat Bilgren, one of 80 experts responsible for organizing and regulating the human resources for Turkey's two million public servants.

“We are taking some theoretical information from the professors and then we come out to see the practice. Theory is important but the practice is also very important,” Bilgren said. “Compared to Turkey, the system is very different. We are trying to understand how the system works in the USA.”

Pradel called the delegation a gracious group and said he looked forward to answering their questions and asking a few of his own.

“We relish the opportunity to tell people about how we run our city and answer all their questions,” Pradel said. “We also try to learn a thing or two from them as well.”