Team ratings while thinking about trust

My one on one with my new manager yesterday. He's now acting as GM too so it's a wonder he has the time. So I think we all save up a lot of work stuff to ask/tell him as he's too busy to barely breathe the rest of the time. But wow, best manager so far, he does not cancel them. That's a real testament to wanting a good staff culture. I can almost count on one hand for each of my previous managers how many 1 on 1s I had with them. They very little seemed to value the time. This big corporate and they go on about 1 on 1s every so often and I don't understand why they can't see that they just don't happen.

But anyway he brings up end of year ratings. And immediately my stress levels go up - I've realised that they were a way that previous managers have justified their treatment of me. If they gave me a reasonable rating then they would have to explain the missed opportunities, lack of responsibilities and just generally the way they talked to/of me. I remember at one point they used to ask us to sign our ratings after they gave them to us. I refused due to how wrong I thought my rating was one year. I don't remember having to sign anything years after that. The one decent manager I had during my years working in that toxic place (besides the manager I got when I was seconded out of there - oh how I wish I had had him years earlier) wanted to give me a middle rating and the manager above him (definitely part of the old guard toxic crowd) made him rate it down. By then I was able to reassure him it was fine as I didn't care - he cared though and I never really got why but possibly because he could see it was unfair too.

But my new manager brings it up and I point out how counter this is to team building as it is one rating against another. And how I don't care as it does not affect my remuneration - all I care about is his review of me as that is what I will take if I was to leave. He's knows all this but at the end of the day he's got to give me a number - that is a problem that this corporate forces on him.

And this seems to run counter to various values they seem to have around working together, etc. It's one of the nails ultimately that pits one person against another, and one team against another.

Seriously, I just don't get it. This is what seems to hurt the most. The large disconnect between corporate values and how they are acted out when it gets down to the lowest levels.

I guess I'm being idealistic. A lot of other companies out there have the same thing. Maybe I just need a holiday. Maybe I need to leave and see what else is out there and what their cultures are like.