So true, our company monitors PR counts, it’s all pushed from higher level execs. So my manager, the middle manager, tells us, “make sure your PR counts do not stand out negatively” and pretty much independently of this, make sure you deliver value. We need to keep the PR count up, so that execs see charts going up, and need to work on things that matter so that they don’t realize those are BS metrics to enforce. The thing is measuring what matters is not trivial for software engineering, so they measure what’s easy to measure, and they can pat themselves on the back for being data driven.
And while PR counts and friends aren't a metric to measure people by, that sure are a signal to keep an eye on.
It measures what matters - it helps identify potential problems. Maybe your process started slowing people down, maybe your CQ/CI became a royal pain, maybe a problem is much harder than expected - and maybe some people are slackers.
Your middle manager likely cares less about your productivity than about sucking up to those above your middle manager in the hierarchy, and your productivity is at best only tenuously related to that.
In fact your middle manager is responsible for enforcing the C-suite's directives on you. Any deviation from that, even if it increases your productivity, is likely to result in punishment rather than reward for your manager.