The shittier PDS process is good for mgmt. and that's it. And now it is even more beneficial for those with power to rank other people as they and pick and choose those of their liking, just like flavors of koolaid.
Also, behavioral skills are also weaponized to help serve and facilitate the PDS process in favor of ranker. When the ranker can absolutely not find anything against the employee to downgrade them based on their functional skills, capabilities, and absolute contributions they hide behind any behavioral skill(s) of their choosing to justify the slippage in ranking. Why? Because like the PDS process itself behavioral skills are so vague and subjective that enables ranker to write the narrative around it supporting the downgrade of someone. Don't believe me? Send an email or call your HR rep. from the finest HR team and ask them about it. Additionally, the assigned rank meeting chair and HR rep whose responsibility is to keep the rank meeting fair and equal ways use their power or look away giving some people several minutes to discuss an employee while restricting others to 2 or 3 minutes only. Then there are some rogue managers too how frequently interfere with their supervisors ranking the employees. These rogue managers don't refrain from sending threatening IMs live while in the rank meetings to their supervisors directly and controlling ranking outcomes, and then they also ask supervisors to own decisions that they might not have had control over. I hope this gives you another reason or an understanding of why XOM always protects its loyal managers and people part of their management club.
All this can't be possible by those brownnosers and suckers who keep sucking at this sh-t upwards for their own benefits, rightfully fuelling the process as XOM has designed it and wants it to be.