High performer, terrible upward relationship. Does the manager-employee dynamic alone justify non-renewal?
(Real scenario rewritten by AI to untangle intermingling aspects better)
manage a research team in a technical/scientific environment. I have a contract employee who is a strong individual contributor — good output, works well with one of my team leads, and they've produced solid work together.
The problem is exclusively with me. This person does not respond well to anything short of full agreement. When I push back — even gently, even constructively — they shut down, go passive aggressive, or accuse me of bad faith. They've told me I "flip the script" between private and public conversations, which I genuinely don't believe I do, but they won't elaborate. They've called me political and not genuine. Every attempt I've made to address it directly has gone nowhere.
In our field, the manager-employee relationship matters beyond just output — approvals, initiative direction, and collaborative brainstorming all run through me. That part is genuinely broken.
The team lead they work well with is a direct report of mine, so the structure isn't inappropriate — but it does mean I'm effectively managing this person at arm's length, which isn't sustainable long term.
Contract renewal is coming up and I'm wrestling with two things:
Can a dysfunctional relationship with a direct line manager alone justify non-renewal, if output within a sub-team is good?
How do I communicate a non-renewal to the rest of the team without it looking like disagreement gets people let go?
Has anyone navigated something similar?