This seems like the kind of system you'd have if you just didn't mandate anything, but had a culture of giving a damn, and one time a year to suggest raises. I.

This seems like the kind of system you'd have if you just didn't mandate anything, but had a culture of giving a damn, and one time a year to suggest raises. I.e., I'm pretty sure this is the default, and grading according to a bell curve and letting people go who fall below a certain percentage, regardless of actual performance, is the weird exception (in the sense of taking effort to implement, not exception in the sense that few people do it). If I am a manager, and I care about those under me doing a good job (both to reflect well on me, and to continue to perform well), I will, of course, check in periodically. Ask how things are going, suggest areas that could use improving, and commending them for areas they're doing well in. The response to that would color how I recommend people for raises, and if someone didn't seem to respond ~at all~ to that, and was underperforming, would lead me to recommend their transfer to another team or being let go.