Overview
Have you ever experienced a situation where you have to ask dozens of people to find the right person just for a simple 5-minute request? With our template, finding the right person for any task is now just a quick glance away.
What is an employee directory template?
An employee directory template is used to store a unified list of all employees' contact information, job titles, photos and other relevant information.
Lark's employee directory template enables your HR team to collect new employee information, make edits based on employment status, and scale as your business grows. Besides being responsive and mobile-friendly, it has automations for efficiency and integration features to connect with a wide variety of data sources.
According to research conducted by US firm Gartner, poor communication is responsible for 70% of corporate errors. These statistics show the importance of lowering the barrier to effective communication across employees (Source).
How to use our employee directory template: 5 steps to follow
Step 1: Customise Your Directory
Once you access the template, you may configure the field information to include the fields specific to your company's use case. Here is some basic information that we recommend including in your employee directory template:
Employee ID
First name
Last name
Department
Position
Employment type
Profile photo
Phone number
Email
Start date
We generally find that putting photos in the directory helps employees to put faces to names and foster a sense of community.
Step 2: Streamline Data Entry with Forms
One of the most typical issues HR teams face is how to collect information effectively. This is particularly problematic with larger companies - it is impossible for HR teams to chase down each individual employee for their information.
Lark's employee directory template automatically transforms into an online form to send to employees. Employees simply have to fill in the information and submit the form, and Lark automatically converts the information to the directory for storage.
Using Lark to implement an employee directory template with gamification elements can encourage employee engagement with the form as well.
Step 3: Customise Directory Access for Better Security and Privacy
Lark offers employee directory templates with customizable privacy settings. We recommend setting up different access permissions to control the visibility of personal information for your employees to be able to use the directory without privacy concerns. For instance:
All employees are able to see each other's name, email address, and department for business communication and alignment purposes
Line managers are able to see the responsible team's details, including birthdays, start dates, and other preferences to better know and engage the team members
The team controls the editing access to the employee directory
Step 4: Automate Important Reminders
This includes birthdays, work anniversaries, performance review dates, contract ending dates, etc. This helps you stay ahead of hiring status changes and take actions proactively. Additionally, set up recurring reminders to review and update the directory for clarity.
Step 5: Integration with Project Management
By integrating employee directory templates with project management tools, Lark facilitates collaboration by linking employee profiles to project tasks, enabling easy assignment and tracking of responsibilities.
Hear from Our Users
"As a marketing manager, we are constantly collaborating with different stakeholders for different initiatives, events and projects. Before Lark, I had to go through piles of documents and ask at least 3-4 people. With Lark's employee directory template, we are able to quickly identify the right stakeholders."
— Marcus Chen, Marketing Manager
"Best single employee management tool ever needed."
— Whitney Brittingham, Customer Success Manager
"This template is so easy [to use]; especially with the form to automate data entry, it literally saved me tens of hours of work."
— Anonymous Seasoned HR Professional
Why should your business adopt an employee directory template?
Stay organized
An employee directory helps you keep track of your staffing situation and improve HR clarity. By having a centralized list of all employees, you can quickly see who is available to work and who is not.
Help managers understand their teams better
By knowing about the basic information of all team members through the directory, managers can quickly get to know their team. This is especially beneficial for those working on the frontline, where workers might be part-time but required to get onboarded in a short period of time. For example, a store manager can get to know the new part-time salesperson and make warm introductions immediately.
Engage better
A directory provides team members' contact information so that you can easily reach out when necessary. You can also keep track of important dates, such as employees' birthdays, work anniversaries, probations, and more to boost engagement. Employee directories are particularly important for effective internal communications in remote teams, saving time, improving collaboration, and fostering better relationships.
Save time by easily locating information
With an up-to-date directory, you can quickly find the information you need without having to search through multiple sources or outdated Excel sheets.
All ten best intranets of 2020 nominated by Nielsen Norman Group had an employee directory on the homepage (Source).
Tips and Tricks
Filter, sort and group data in directory, especially when there are many data inputs.
Include fields for pronouns, preferred names, and cultural backgrounds to foster diversity and inclusion.
Use the directory to showcase their skills and expertise, creating opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.
Incorporate a system for colleagues to acknowledge and appreciate each other's contributions in the employee directory, fostering a positive and supportive work environment.
Use the directory as a resource for tracking and promoting employee wellness initiatives, such as fitness challenges or mental health support groups.
Other Employee-Related Templates
Employee Reviews Template: The employee review template in Lark allows teams to conduct assessments and provide valuable feedback for employee growth. The template makes teams easy for customization, centralized data tracking & collaborative feedback.
Onboarding Guide Template: The onboarding guide template helps with new employees onboarding by detailing job roles and connecting them with the team and company culture. The template ensures a uniform onboarding experience, saves time by organizing the process, enhances communication, and centralizes key resources, setting new hires up for success.
Leave Application Template: The leave application template simplifies the process of managing employee leaves, allowing for easy tracking and organization within Lark's platform.
Check out our other HR-related templates here.
Conclusion
By following the four steps outlined above, you can create an easy-to-use and flexible employee directory that will help you onboard and engage with your teams better using the information.If you are looking to build a flexible, automated employee directory template that your HR team and people managers can fully leverage.
In Lark, HR teams can manage employee directories on Lark Base and make the directory even more powerful by connecting it to other processes such as shift schedules, time-off calculations, payouts, and more, thereby increasing people management efficiency. Contact our team today for a free demo on how to achieve so 🪄
FAQ
What is an employee directory template?
An employee directory template is a template to collect the information related to employees, e.g. name, phone number, email, profile photo… It is used in companies big and small to facilitate communication and information flow across the organisation.
What is the best way to create a staff (employee) directory?
One way to create a staff directory is to build using Excel or Google Sheets from scratch. At Lark, we provide an staff directory template so you can use it right out of the box. Lark's staff directory template also includes features such as forms and automations.
What should be included in a company employee directory?
Company employee directory can vary depending on the needs of the business. Most directory includes employee ID, name, department, position, profile photo, phone number and email. Some include more advanced fields such as start date, skill sets, fun facts...
