CEO's must get into the trenches to retain top talent and to motivate disengaged employees, according to a CEO Panel discussion held this week at the Hamilton Princess.

The Bermuda Employers' Council held a leadership conference at the Hamilton Princess on Tuesday to develop strategies to have highly engaged, productive employees, and learn about talent management.

The CEO panel discussion featured Ernst & Young Managing Partner Gil Tucker, Butterfield Bank CEO Alan Thompson, Belco CEO Garry Madeiros, Keytech CEO Sheila Manderson, Group president of Bermuda Aviation Services Eugene Bean and president of IAS Limited David Ezekiel.

"A leader must turn their company into more than just a commodity and employees need to feel connected apart from work. You must create a culture that feels like a family and make it tough for them to leave," Mr. Ezekiel said.

Mr. Bean said: "Leadership takes passion and enthusiasm and employees want to be sure their captain is on the ship and has not dropped the oars."

"Our employees are our biggest asset. The key is to get out there and meet people and set a culture allowing employees to express themselves and avoid public executions," Mr. Thompson said.

The panel discussed the role of values being an integral part of an organisation and recognising that each employee works differently and to engage them requires a tailored strategy.

The panel agreed that employees must play a part in the success of a company and managers should figure how to get the best performance from those workers who are engaged and those who are less engaged.

Mr. Ezekiel observed single people are more willing to work longer hours than an employee with a family ? but the latter person can still achieve the same results without staying in the office after normal work hours.

Apart from supporting flexible workplace strategies, Mr. Tucker said meeting the bottom line is not necessarily the most important thing for managers as talent must be developed.

"The key for leaders is to make sure values come to light and its core values are relevant to an operation and what these values means to the employees," Ms Manderson said.

"You have to build a relationship of trust with your employees so that they feel what you say," Mr. Madeiros added.