Oakland's (2003) process for benchmarking takes the standard approach in the five steps and includes the final step, which recommends a formal performance review.
In your assertion that this final step is one that many companies tend to skip I would tend to agree with you as the formal review has been fairly well ignored in most of the companies I have worked for in the past.
It almost seems as if leadership checks off the box that the task is completed after implementation and the focus moves to another task or project.
This final step is perhaps the most important since this is the step where decisions have to be made if improvement has been made and if the benchmark is appropriate. Unreasonable or otherwise ineffective benchmarks can actually have the opposite intended affect and lead to demoralized associates.
QUESTION: How would you advise management to reconsider this bad practice of skipping this final step in the benchmarking process?