Local expert brings corporate best practices to OU

Long gone are the days when a company’s human resources department was associated only with the screening and hiring of new employees.

Today, understanding human capital is a growing field, says Seymour Adler, recently reappointed chairman of the Orthodox Union’s Human Resources Commission.

The Teaneck resident, who has worked as a volunteer with the OU for some eight years — five as head of the commission — points out that clarifying the role of employees in an organization serves not just the workplace itself but the people they serve.

For example, said Adler, who advises OU leaders on creating “a place where people can excel in their performance,” managers must ask themselves questions such as “What does it look like when employees are committed and engaged and have the tools and support needed to maximize their performance day in and day out?”

Seymour Adler, left, and Rabbi Leonard Bessler

“Applying my professional skills to help the community has been a source of gratification to me,” said Adler, who served as president of Teaneck’s Cong. Rinat Yisrael from 2002 to 2004. An industrial psychologist with a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from New York University, Adler is senior vice president for talent consulting at Aon Hewitt, an insurance brokerage and human resources consulting company.

In addition to helping Rinat Yisrael with strategic planning, something he did as well for UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey’s Jewish Community Relations Council, he has worked as a volunteer with The Moriah School in Englewood and with Kesher synagogue in Tenafly.

His professional expertise contributes “value added” to his work at OU, where “everything I can bring automatically gets plugged in” to their operations, he said. He pointed out that he works closely with Rabbi Leonard Bessler, senior human resources officer.

Still, he said, bringing best practices from corporate America to an Orthodox nonprofit “doesn’t translate without some kind of work,” particularly since the organization doesn’t have the resources of a large corporation and is extremely sensitive to the use of public money. Nevertheless, he noted, the OU has an “enlightened leadership,” interested in hearing about concepts that might improve the organization.

His work with the OU has been diverse, he said, explaining that he reviews what the OU is doing “with respect to people-related issues” — for example, how the group selects new employees, promotes current staff, rewards people, trains people, and generally “instills a performance-oriented culture.”

Those efforts benefit the entire community, he said.

“We’re talking about people,” he said. “People are the place, whether NCSY leaders, kashrut supervisors, or the people who pull together workshops on things like being better parents. They’re teams of people,” and it’s important to find out how to support them so that they’re as effective as they can be.

Over the last year, the OU has enhanced its level of management training and development, Adler said, “with some of it quite sophisticated.” For example, for the first time, the group is now engaged in executive coaching for senior leaders.

“While they’re careful about how they spend communal money, they recognize the huge amount of leverage they gain by helping a leader grow, develop, and become more effective,” he said, noting that several months ago he participated in a training program for managers across all divisions of the organization.

“It was a terrific two days,” he said. “We did what corporate America does, [using] team-building exercises to work more cooperatively.”

According to Bessler, “Nonprofits don’t measure success by dollars but rather by performance goals, so Dr. Adler’s input is essential.”

Adler, he said, has helped the OU greatly by guiding the organization in appraising the talent of its staff, using anonymous ratings of individuals by their subordinates, peers, clients, and supervisors.

In addition, he said, the fact that Adler — whom he described as a top consultant in corporate America — has been a shul president and community activist “only adds to his insight into our unique culture.”

“I would really try to encourage folks to use their professional skills to help the community,” said Adler. “Too often, people in the community feel that they can volunteer labor — for example, packaging mishloach manot, delivering packages, making solicitation calls on Super Sunday — or, obviously, donate money. I feel that the most important contribution many can make is drawing on their professional skills — and especially people who are in consulting roles in their professional lives.”