"Jon Ingham, executive consultant at human resources consultancy, Strategic Dynamics, and author of Strategic Human Capital Management: Creating Value Through People , has become an extensive user of networking technology.

"I get a lot of work through existing relationships but I also find it comes through Web 2.0 technology, particularly the LinkedIn network that has proved useful for staying in touch with people overseas".

He shares my surprise that executives in the HR profession have been relatively slow to explore networking innovations outside the information technology sector.

A US online shoe retailer, Zappos.com, he says, has been using the Twitter network - sometimes described as a micro-blog - for staff collaboration and customer relations.

A US-based tax advisory company, H&R Block is similarly using Twitter to engage with customers - a refreshing change from the kind of sterile responses you often get in online custome Read the full article