Subordinate complaint about their supervisor

[justinsmith]

I am fortunate to lead a growing team of 35 individuals, with different levels of management in our company.  There have been a few times where employees come to me to complain about their direct supervisor.  How should I address the employee's concerns without undermining the person I have trusted in the management position.  How do I confront the manager without throwing the employee who voiced a concern under the bus?

[mynewunit]

Great question. This is most likely address in Leadership Stradegy and Tactics.
It is good to convey that there are right and wrong ways to critique their supervisor. First, time and place, not publicly or during other activities. It should only be to people who would have some reason to know or an ability to change it.
For dealing with complaints about supervisors, it is good to help the complaining employee to understand the company requirements of their supervisor and the company requirements of them. Sometimes the task assigned to the employee only makes sense to the requirements of the supervisor. Often the employee understanding what the supervisor needs to provide up to leadership can provide context. Sometimes knowing what is actually delivered can reduce what the employee has to produce for their supervisor.
The interaction with the supervisor can be less directed at a single employee if you first check with more of their subordinates. This might be seen as an over step to go and talk directly to his team. Talking directly to the supervisor is probably a better path.
The real question is "Is the complaint valid and significant?" It might be valid that your supervisor doesn't understand what I am doing. He has not done my job. He cannot tell me what I am doing right or wrong. Is it significant? Does it prevent completion of work, cause issues with the customer, or other waste of time and resources.
Jocko would say "Build the relationship". The relationship with the supervisor. The relationship with the employee. And the relationship between the supervisor and the employee.
When you compare the complaint about this supervisor to the feedback from other employees or other supervisors? That should show if the question is specific to the employee, the supervisor, those two, or if it is wide spread. Once you know where the problem is isolated, look at the mindset or the perspective of the complaint. Try to quantify it, give it dimensions, and find its limits. This evaluation can help detach and give perspective. If the complaint is about a weekly meeting, it is only 2 hours of your week. Would preparation before meeting make it more tolerable? Shorter?

Generally speaking, these issues tend to be caused by both parties. Psychologically, individuals are most attuned to find their weakness less acceptable in others. Two people looking for the other to feed their ego. Two procrastinators waiting for the other to get the task done. They might need a common enemy to align their perspective or priorities. Once they get going in the right direction, you pull back the curtain and tell them what game you were playing to fix the problem that previously existed.