I absolutely hate reviews. There is little I dislike more in formalized work culture than the annual review process. I recently worked at a place that did mid-year and year-end reviews and it was twice the hate. I worked at another company that had a massive job competency matrix distributed in excel with nearly 100 cells to fill in. I've had managers change my self-evaluations to ensure I used the exact language necessary to allow them to give me a raise/promotion that they felt I deserved. I've also been in the mid-level management hell that is stack ranking where 10 TLs get put into a room with senior managers and argue what order devs are relative to each other.

But as a TL I've managed devs who are eager for this feedback. I don't understand it since I hate it. I also ensure I do 1:1s frequently and I focus on career topics during those discussions. Despite my inability to understand I've witnessed it many time: some people not only want reviews they feel like they need the review. This is especially true the younger a developer is. My theory is that they are still in the after-glow of university and they are used to the idea of regularly getting grades.

So while I find reviews to be little more than justification for adjusting renumeration while providing legal cover, I respect as a leader the genuine need of many to receive a clear and useful performance review at least once a year.