Career paths that keep good people from leaving
Good employees leave when they can't see what's next. The fix is showing them.
Draw the ladder on one page
Roles, pay bands, certifications required to move. One page, posted somewhere visible. Most shops have a ladder in the owner's head and nowhere else.
Tie the path to skills you can verify
Certifications, hours logged on certain work, customer feedback. Measurable beats subjective every time when it comes to promotions.
Talk about the next rung before they ask
The conversation about 'what's next for you here' belongs in the first one-on-one, not the exit interview.
Take your version of this question further
This is one operator-tested angle on the question. Your shop, your size, your trade, and your team change the answer. Ask your specific version inside Ask a Shop Owner to get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.