What's your secret for keeping good employees?

For an upcoming story, we would like to hear from small business owners who go out of their way to keep good people.

ShopTalk reporter Caroline McMillan has written about creative strategies some businesses use so that good people stay on. 

To make sure employees at Lake Norman Motel and Landing Restaurant stay on during the off season, owners hire staff to help with maintenance and renovations.

That also happened at  Fourth Ward restaurant Alexander Michael’s, which hired staffers during the restaurant’s closure several years ago to help renovate the space. Employees there have worked an average of six to seven years.

Do you have employees who have been with you a while? What do you do to make them happy? 

Share your strategies. Email Celeste Smith at cesmith@charlotteobserver.com.