Contract Renewal Withdrawn

[Graemsay]

I had a bit of a WTF today.

I joined my client company on a three month rolling contract last year, and was coming up for renewal. I'd pointed out to one of the managers that I was due to leave in just under a fortnight, and received an email this afternoon from the agency notifying me that the contract had been extended along with a letter to sign.

Two or three hours later I get called into a meeting room with two managers who tell me that due to me underperforming, I'm not going to be renewed. I'm asked to handover everything, am told that I'll be paid for the remainder of my contract (until next Friday), and not to come in again.

Here's where I get confused.

The team was doing the Scrum thing, and at the start of each Sprint we plan work giving each job an arbitrary number of points. I've been working through 20% more points than is average for the team on each Sprint, with the exception of the last full one before Christmas, where I was at or maybe below the team average. (And to be fair, everyone did badly on that one.)

The manager's reply is that I'm not adding value, am a drag on the team, and wasn't up to speed.

Adding value? FFS, I was bug fixing!

My suspicion is that either I didn't give a good impression that I was working hard, or that I was scapegoated after having a couple of bad weeks with the last Sprint before Christmas.

Still, see what else turns up.

[escapeUK]

Not a nice way to start the new year. First say back at my client today for me too. Hopefully I will have better luck that you.

[RichardCranium]

I had a bit of a WTF today.

... because you know they're lying to you.

two managers tell me that due to me underperforming, I'm not going to be renewed.

That way they feel all butch and manly and powerful. Managers like to feel like that. So much more macho than "Thanks, but we'll be alright from here on; thanks for your help to date".

I'm asked to handover everything, am told that I'll be paid for the remainder of my contract (until next Friday), and not to come in again.

That's their way of cleansing their conscience for lying to you.

So they're paying you to sit at home, update your CV, apply for gigs and post on CUK. Win!

Here's where I get confused.

Stop believing what they told you. If you were crap, you'd have been shown the door months ago.

The manager's reply is that I'm not adding value, am a drag on the team, and wasn't up to speed.

Gosh. THREE bits of management bulltulip AND dumped a contractor. I bet he had to run to the Gents to relieve his semi after that.

Adding value? FFS, I was bug fixing!

Testing, documentation, bug fixing. All pointless overhead from a manager's career development point of view.

My suspicion is that either I didn't give a good impression that I was working hard, or that I was scapegoated after having a couple of bad weeks with the last Sprint before Christmas.

Nah. Just saving themselves a few £ before year end. Don't take it personally. The manager(s) in question probably have their annual review coming up and want to look 'dynamic' and 'purposeful' and 'results focussed' or some such crap.

Still, see what else turns up.

Way to go.

[mavster07]

I would suggest going back to the agent and getting them to 'please explain' on what basis the extension was offered, and then summarily withdrawn. Whilst its all well and good to sit at home and take the money, your reputation is MORE important and you will want a referencable client. Getting 'marched' like you have done doesn't bode well if other clients find out. I would suggest 'clearing the air' and trying to find a way forward. My guess is that its either budget related or there's some personality clash where you're not liked by someone who has pull in that area and they had someone else they wanted to bring in. If that's how they treat their contractors, you're better off out there, but you should at least know why......

[Graemsay]

Thanks for the support.

It won't have been for financial reasons. My former client is currently hiring, and is extremely profitable.

There are three scenarios that possibly make sense:

1. The company had a problem with me that I hadn't picked up on, be it a personality clash as Mavster suggested, or a genuine issue with how I was working.
2. There was a mismatch between how productive I was, and how productive I was seen to be.
3. I was the scapegoat for the last couple of weeks when my team was collectively underperforming.

All strike me as management failures (not providing feedback and not accurately tracking progress).

Then again, this unemployment lark isn't too bad. A friend has said that I've now got the free time to accompany her to Fiji at the end of the month.

[mavster07]

Thanks for the support.

It won't have been for financial reasons. My former client is currently hiring, and is extremely profitable.

There are three scenarios that possibly make sense:

1. The company had a problem with me that I hadn't picked up on, be it a personality clash as Mavster suggested, or a genuine issue with how I was working.
2. There was a mismatch between how productive I was, and how productive I was seen to be.
3. I was the scapegoat for the last couple of weeks when my team was collectively underperforming.

All strike me as management failures (not providing feedback and not accurately tracking progress).

Then again, this unemployment lark isn't too bad. A friend has said that I've now got the free time to accompany her to Fiji at the end of the month.

You should definitely bottom it out. Its very unusual to offer a renewal and then withdraw it. Suggest you investigate if you value your reputation !

[MarillionFan]

Stop believing what they told you. If you were crap, you'd have been shown the door months ago.

That's not true. I'm on one site at the moment where they've had a guy working for over 12 months. I was bought in to deal with the back log.

On investigation, there isn't a back log. In fact the opposite.

The contractor takes 5 times longer than usual on each request and deploys to testing only 50% complete. He then sits on his arse while he waits for the business to check it, before lurching forward another 10%. Client suspected something wasn't right, but as their previous resource had also been the same they accepted it.

I did a 'months work' in two days on arrival. Have completed the 'backlog' and they are going to get shot of him as they have now realised he was taking the piss.

He thinks he's doing a great job!

What you think is a good job may not be necessarily so.

[RichardCranium]

That's not true.

What you think is a good job may not be necessarily so.

I was trying to make him feel better.

[rsingh]

Go to Fiji and bone your friend senseless.

[Graemsay]

I'm willing to accept that I sucked, but I seemed to be matching (or beating) the productivity of the other team members.

I wonder if I was the opposite of MarillionFan's colleague, namely I was performing (objectively) reasonably well, but not giving the impression that I was.