[snarf21]

Part of it is checking the box but they can serve purpose. There is value in an employee taking a step back and thinking about goals for the next quarter or year. There is value in a (good) manager reading the goals and using that for discussions around personal and team development.

As you said, tying bonuses to this process in nonsense and if you have a good manager they will just hide this from you. Sadly, most managers are awful. The problem is that getting promoted into management is a career path and companies don't adequately train managers. Just because you are good at coding does not mean you can manage a team of coders.

Like a lot of things in life, you kinda get out what you put in. Remember, introspection is our one true superpower.

[sideshowb]

They can also serve as a bargaining chip for the employee, assuming they negotiated a choice of goals they actually want. E.g. you can say to your manager "I need you to approve this training budget for me to contribute towards this goal we agreed at my last review".