I think this is a critique of bad organizations more than performance reviews themselves. Most of the points can be attributed to organizational problems rather

I think this is a critique of bad organizations more than performance reviews themselves. Most of the points can be attributed to organizational problems rather than problems with the process of performing reviews. A good boss in a candid organization will be delivering informal feedback throughout the year. The annual performance review has no surprises; it's a set time to formalize what is already known. People shouldn't treat performance reviews as salary negotiations, but instead as evidence-gathering for a salary negotiation. A salary negotiation has two important variables and the performance review provides evidence for only one. The two variables are a) Value delivered to the company by the employee and b) Best alternative salary for the employee.