>who the fuck is gonna READ all those replies and CHECK to see if what they wrote is true?
That's not the point of the exercise. As they can't show up at the office building, count heads and do interviews, they first must find out who's a warm body checking their email occasionally.
A second reason is to elicit the "oh shit", they're serious and I'd better get my ass into the office and at least act busy.
Lastly, if the employee is somewhat sentient, it should force them not just to identify 5 things they did, but to examine them as a product that they're representing as their worth to the enterprise. Five things…….in a week? Really?
This is master class management psychology, and my bet is it's only the beginning.