This has been my experience too, and is a frustration for managers that, in my experience, ICs don't understand: we _want_ to help you. But we've got a lot of shit to do. So we need evidence to draw from to rep you to the Powers That Be, both formally and informally. I always tried to have good ambient awareness of what my people were doing and how they were contributing, but that gets stretched thin. I am not omniscient, and cannot, and do not want to, micromanage your every action.

The best solution I found is the one you described: get people in the habit of incrementally building a case for how they contribute. Some people bought into this strategy and they benefited bc I became way more effective in advocating for them, not just at set times, but always. Some didn't, and they were constantly dis-satisfied with the company, and with me. I never was able to solve the issue for them before I resigned.