Reward systems and punishment systems are crucial elements that must be in place to have the most productive workforce as possible.  By rewarding positive things employees accomplish and punishing negative things it allows the managers to control the actions in a more effective way.  As an intern I have a different set of reward and punishment system than the other employees at my facility have and it focuses mainly on my transferring out review, or in simpler terms, the grade I get from my manager of the work I completed.

There are multiple people that I work for and have worked for within my organization.  I have worked for my supervisor, the plant manager, the inventory manager, and the shift one supervisor.  Through my experiences with GE Aviation I have had numerous types of feedback and they range from exceptional impressments but also some encouragement to do better.  A good example was during my first few weeks when I would constantly seek advice in order to do my job and to do it properly. The feedback I would receive would be a lot of encouragement that I can do it and things will get easier as I learn more about my job.  This was great feedback for me as it helped my self confidence and helped motivate me to do better.   

As I have mentioned earlier there are a set of specific rewards and punishments for the co-ops with GE that is different than the ones the normal employees may have.  As co-ops we have a final meeting at the end of his/her rotation with our supervisor and the manager in charge of all co-ops.  This meeting is an overview of that specific co-op’s overall experience and performance with GE.  This is a huge part of the rewards system because it is a big factor in being hired to work for GE after graduation.  It helps motivate you to do your best while you are co-oping and is a great positive reinforcement for employee productivity.  And just like the rewards the punishments are also the same.  By doing a bad job during your co-op position it will be reflected on your ending performance rating and could halt a position for direct hire after graduation.

I believe this reward system has a lot of faults and could be greatly improved.  Because it is solely based on your final evaluation, and effects if you could get hired with the company or not, for those students who do not plan on sticking with General Electric they may not feel motivated to improve their performance and do the best they could do with this reward system.  I believe they should structure it to affect everyone and not those who would like to have a job with them after graduation.

There are several things I would change and add to my organization’s rewards system that applies to co-op positions.  I believe the structure of the system, currently, with the focus mainly on the exit interview is a good area to focus on but there are also other places that need to be looked at.  I think you need to have monthly evaluations and a possible relocation or pay decrease if that specific co-op does not meet expectations.  All co-ops are paid $18.25 an hour and some do rarely any work.  GE could save a lot of money and improve productiveness by having some sort of system, like I just mentioned, in place for the co-op employees. 

I would also increase responsibility and possibly the pay for co-ops that exceed expectations and really do a great job.  This will encourage all co-ops to do the best they can do and even improve the productiveness of the co-ops who do not plan on working for or trying to work for GE after graduation.  I truly believe that my ideas would help improve the reward system that GE currently has in place for the co-ops and would create more productive and effective employees.