Where I worked, everyone had a performance improvement plan as a matter of policy.
It was a pain in the arse trying to think up some kind of way to do better with definable and measurable goals.
I was a supervisor so I had to think up these plans for both myself and my subordinates.
It ends up being just another make work policy. You go through the motions just to satisfy your superiors.
In my opinion, they were unfair since you could have a great relationship with a boss over the years, then end up working for another one who was a total jerk, which was reflected in his evaluation of you.
I hear you except I can double down as I worked for the government. Not having a profit or productivity concern ironically the performance improvement plans became the top priority of upper management. So much so that the process and procedures completely changed every 3 to 4 years. Make work indeed.