Employee directories are essential to a business. Their main function is to store the names and contact information for all of your employees, making connecting across departments easier.
However, when your corporate directory isn’t connected to your tech stack, it becomes more of a hassle than a breeze to pull up employee info on the spot.
Research from RingCentral found that over two-thirds of employees spend up to one hour daily switching between applications. In fact, the same study discovered over half of employees would rather do chores and pay bills than navigate between apps.
Therefore, having an active directory to host all of your contact information and people data that is user-friendly is key to efficient collaboration and communication. That’s where employee directory software comes in handy.
Read onwards to learn about 5 important use cases for employee directory software.
1. Simplify finding contact information
In Buffer’s 2021 State of Remote Work survey, 16% of employees responded that their biggest struggle with the digital workplace was loneliness, while another 16% said difficulties communicating and collaborating. Therefore, during COVID times, it is in any company’s best interest to remove as much friction from the collaboration process as possible.
That starts with simplifying finding contact information. Employee directory software has phone numbers, email addresses, job titles, and locations all at your fingertips. Gone are the days of asking your coworker via email to connect you across the organization; you can find it yourself through an easily searchable database.
2. Hub to host all your people data
Modern employee directory software solutions offer more than just contact information. Hobbies, social media accounts, birthdays, and milestones are all available on detailed employee profiles to create personal touchpoints between coworkers.
Employee directory software also hosts other data pertaining to your employees, including employee engagement metrics, learning and development data, demographic information, skill proficiencies, and more.
3. Advanced search
You can filter searches based on anything from name and office location to skills and organizational structure with employee directory software. This is particularly helpful for new hires trying to find coworkers that they may not have met yet.
The addition of org chart functionality even allows you to see the web of connection across the company. If you’re looking to laterally move from sales into marketing, you can search for the right person based on shared skills or interests and introduce yourself.
4. Mobile friendly
Smartphone users check their phone a whopping 150 times a day. Therefore, it's imperative that your solution have a useful employee directory app.
Luckily, most vendors provide in-depth mobile experiences in addition to their desktop experiences. By having access to an employee directory on their phones, workers can search and find employee information without even having to bring up another window on their computer. There are in-app texting capabilities as well, streamlining the internal communication process even further.
5. Heightened employee engagement
Modern employee directory software also comes with engagement tools to make employees feel a sense of belonging. When you realize that engaged employees are 17% more productive, that functionality becomes even more important. Vendors like Pingboard offer tools to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Sift allows for custom terminology so your people aren’t just “employees,” they’re “humans” or “team members.”
Surveymonkey teamed up with Bonus.ly to find that 63% of people who are frequently recognized are unlikely to look for a new job in the upcoming 3 to 6 months. Keeping employees around saves your business money and effort to replace them, so even subtle features such as those add up.
Sounds great! Where can I learn more?
Using an employee directory solution is a great way to boost employee engagement while making it easy to foster community and communication across your org. Check out our detailed landscape on the best employee directory software. We provide a short list of great company directory and organizational chart vendors, along with pricing information, benefits, pitfalls, and more.
