Do You Hate Performance Reviews?

This article at Yahoo Finance provided by The Wall Street Journal, Yes, Everyone Really Does Hate Performance Reviews, seemed pretty one-sided to me.

The author argues that performance reviews are scheduled one-sided ways to place blame on employees and ignore their input.  That kind of performance review does indeed sound useless and mean.  What about performance reviews that actually review performance and open a line of communication?

Well, the author doesn't think that those kind of reviews exist, so I'm going to have to leave the article behind. 

I personally work for a company that pays way below average and doesn't care about their "human resources" at all.  BUT, they do give annual performance reviews.  Depending on which supervisor an employee has, these are actual reviews that allow us to ask questions and give opinions.

My two direct supervisors are great.  I seem to work in the only department within the company that treats their employees as people.  My annual performance reviews are thorough and allow me to make suggestions and ask questions that I would otherwise put aside.  It's also nice to get a pat on the back from the bosses even though their normal operating procedure is that you are doing well unless told otherwise.  I am the only woman in the department and I also seem to be the only one that thrives on praise.

Plus, our raises are given during performance reviews.  Before this two year salary freeze, I could always depend on a little extra.  Stupid economy...it is an employer's market and they know it.

In short, I am a fan of performance reviews.  Do you like your review at all?  Or do you agree with the original article's author?