Wayfair does semi-annual reviews where once your manager reviews your performance the reviews are sent to senior management to be “calibrated”, usually downward. The new score is returned to your manager with little to no guidance on why. Managers are forced into changing their reviews to reflect the new score and thus back into some justification for why.
The result is reviews delivered to employees with flimsy rationale and justification. In the reviews themselves, managers look just as surprised by the review they’re delivering as the employee. Worst of all, because most employees weren’t receiving feedback at regular intervals that would have given them a chance to improve, most reviews seem to come out of nowhere. This leaves employees demotivated, lacking confidence, and ultimately not trusting the process.