I think you misunderstood - I'm not getting entries in an "email database", I'm getting evaluations so whatever scoring metric they use, I'll be listed as above

I think you misunderstood - I'm not getting entries in an "email database", I'm getting evaluations so whatever scoring metric they use, I'll be listed as above average. (And this doesn't necessarily contradict your cynicism regarding political equations - unless EVERY position is decided politically, a lot of positions will be evaluated by the metric that might have been determined to aid those that are being politically protected - so if I have the company "Ace awards" and evaluation scores that those people have, I too get to keep my job, particularly in workplaces where you can challenge a firing/demotion or are asked to provide support for getting a promotion/raise. But safety is only part of the concept, it's more like "accuracy". More than once I've been "the only one that knows XXX system" (and yes, that's bad, but there are very few companies where that doesn't happen) - but that's a statement that people on the ground know and people above don't. This sort of approach reduces that disconnect. Still though, nothing is 100%, this was just a low-effort option. If one wishes to assume that nothing matters except the schmooze, go for it - I prefer this option.