Companies wanting to get the most out of their staff need to adopt social media tools, according to an expert.

Social media consultant and blogger on socialmediaexplorer.com Jason Falls said that such technology is very able to allow teams to communicate and collaborate with added efficiency, creating a better team building environment.

Mr Falls noted that the environment creates a voluntary commitment, though it may be a breath of fresh air given the nature of the communication.

He continued: "First, it gives your employees a much greater sense of pride in a company that embraces innovation and empowers them to use it.

"Second, and more importantly, it gives you an ad-hoc sales force that organically grows the conversation and positive interactions with your brand in the online space."

Attitudes are changing in regard to the online environment, according to a recent survey by HireScores.com, which found that 18 per cent of managers find it easier to sort out work problems using the internet.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.