Iron Law of bureaucracy applies here
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html
However a simple quick semi-structured quarterly review with direct reports can and should be a pleasure, not a pain. It is only when the HR people start trying to own it and the outputs that it becomes problematic.
A corporate turnaround guru I know always fires the HR department first, because if they were good at their job, he wouldn’t need to be there. He says just doing that significantly lifts morale on its own.