What is an employee directory?

An employee directory is a list of employees in the company with essential contact information included. You can organize the employees in various ways, from alphabetical by last name to grouping them by teams or expertise. Employee directories also serve as organizational charts to show how different positions related to one another. These days, directories are typically digital, which allows users to search quickly for the desired employee using different search options.

Benefits of creating an employee directory

If you only have a few employees, it’s easy to reach everyone—your desks probably aren’t too far apart, so you could likely just shout your messages or questions and get a quick answer. However, growing organizations and remote companies can find it difficult to keep employees connected.

Directories take the guesswork out of whom to contact and how to reach them. If you know the person’s name, you can look them up directly. If you need a specific role, such as IT support, you can search by that area of expertise. It can even promote social connections among employees, which helps improve teamwork, by making it easier to connect with colleagues they meet in passing. Once you have the right person, you can easily see their various contact methods. You can control access to digital employee directories, which helps control access to information after employees leave your company.

Employee directories are also helpful for new employees during the onboarding process. Even in a small company, it can be difficult for new hires to remember everyone. The directory helps them become familiar with the various roles and employees within the company and helps them find the right person when they need assistance. They can better understand the organizational chart of the company.

What to include in employee listings

While many pieces of information are standard for employee listings, you can customize the details that you include to fit your company’s needs. Many directories take more of a profile approach, where you can include a variety of background information on employees, instead of just listing contact info. Common information you should add includes:

• Full name
• Work contact information, including phone number and email address
• Job title
• Department
• Reports and supervisors
• Areas of expertise
• Work location, especially if you have multiple offices
• Bio
• Hire dates

Including a photo can also make the employee directory more effective. It can help employees learn who their colleagues are more effectively. The photo can also help verify that you have the correct listing if you’ve met the person before. You can also offer employees the option to add more information, such as their interests or birthdays.

Where to create your employee directory

Putting together a directory of your employees is easier with a variety of apps and software programs designed for that purpose. You can often get free demos of these employee directory software programs to test out how well theymight work for your company.

One example of software is Connecteam, which includes a directory, as well as many other built-in communication tools, such as chat features. Pingboard is a directory with individual profiles that employees can customize to control how much info they share. Another program that lets you create employee profiles is Eddy, which incorporates HR and workforce management features.

Tips for employee directories

You can create a basic list of employees in a company, but some additional tips can make your directory more effective. Keep these things in mind:

• Promote it to employees. Everyone should know where to find the directory and how they can use it to help themselves.
• Do regular updates. Your employee directory doesn’t need constant attention, but it’s important to update it whenever an employee leaves or joins the company. This ensures it’s accurate and employees can find the info they need.
• Keep it private. All current employees should have access to the directory, but you should generally keep it as internal access only. This protects all the personal details of your employees. You might include a basic directory with some key personnel on your website if clients or the public need access to that information, but avoid giving away too much info publicly.
• Make it intuitive. Your employee directory should be easy to search to find the data you need. Keep it clean and uncluttered, and use logical organizational structures. Choosing a program with robust search options using various parameters also makes the directory easier to use.
• Spruce it up. While the main purpose of the directory is to provide information, you also want it to look attractive. Incorporating your branding with your logo, colors, fonts and values into the directory is also beneficial.
• Give employees some control. Their colleagues need to have access to basic information, but some employees might prefer to only offer the required data. Some employees might not want a personal bio, their birthday or other information published if it’s not relevant to their jobs. Give employees the option to leave out some information if they don’t want it included.