As the owner of a small company, when a disgruntled employee comes to me with a complaint involving another employee, or employees, I find the best way to deal with it is to hear from everyone involved, individually and then together. I’m sure we’ve all heard the cliché, there are two sides to every story, as well as nothing is black or white, it’s all grey. I find that LISTENING to the employees is of utmost importance. Usually, they calm themselves after airing their views, knowing someone cares enough to hear them after which we can work on resolving their anger/frustration. Taking the time to show that you care and want to help is a great attribute both to you and the employee. Keeping this in mind I have always had 100% positive results.
If the disgruntled employee’s complaint does not involve another person, but rather a situation, i.e. they would like to sit in an area away from a window; they have expressed concerns about getting a new chair, keyboard, art supplies, to their Supervisor to no avail, I assure them that I will personally take the time to look into the situation, and reach a satisfactory solution, one that is agreeable to all concerned. It works every time.