Parks, utilities, and the library have each invented their own phone, boot, and "retention" stipends, and finance cannot see the true rewards spend. What should the CHRO do?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Department stipends are like everyone running a side cash register — the books look tidy until someone adds them up. A city needs one rewards philosophy, not three shadow payrolls. Centralize the catalog, then departments stop inventing money.
Full Explanation
An enterprise total-rewards philosophy exists so pay and near-pay elements are visible, equitable, and budgeted. Unilateral departmental stipends become a shadow compensation system that breaks internal equity and hides cost from council. Recentralizing a governed catalog of allowable elements restores control without pretending every existing stipend can freeze in place forever. Confidential handshakes only deepen the audit and fairness problem.