Every survey I've seen shows that both managers and employees hate performance reviews. Every survey I've seen shows that employees wish they received more feedback about their performance, not less.
How do we reconcile this paradox? They crave feedback, but hate the systems we use to provide it.
Some think the solution is to simply eliminate the performance review. But that's like saying, "Every time I go to the dentist, I have a cavity. If I stop going to the dentist, I'll stop having cavities."
If your organization is communicating at a level where the formal review is no longer necessary, great! But if your organization is communicating that well, then employees probably don't hate their performance reviews either. If they hate the reviews, eliminating them won't improve communication, it'll just create a vacuum where the little communication that employees received goes away.
The core cause of these horrible performance review experiences is linked to the truth that effectively managing people is not considered a value-added activity so much in today's economy. Most managers are carrying nearly a full load of productive work while also being responsible for the performance of others. Since they are often evaluated primarily on their own work as a producer, they treat management activities as a distraction. Their mantra to their team is, "Keep doing what you're doing unless you hear from me."
If you really want to eliminate the performance review, then teach your managers and supervisors how to give timely and helpful coaching and feedback. If they can do that well, employees will get better, more frequent feedback. And, they'll stop hating the formal performance review as well.
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