How to create a SharePoint Employee Directory?

With the rapid adoption of work from home culture, there are more requests from the business industry for creating a friendly and attractive SharePoint Employee Directory. The employee directory includes basic information like name, title, phone numbers and a employee image.

There are many solutions providers on the Web providing different forms of employee directory but somehow, they are hard to be integrated within the existing SharePoint server. Moreover replicating the same within SharePoint isn’t a easy task.

But still there are ways through which an Employee Directory in SharePoint can be created with the desired look, feel and functionality. Let’s explore how to create and deploy and employee directory in SharePoint using Gallery view.  Also Read Overcoming Manufacturing Challenges 

Leveraging Built-In Employee Directory in SharePoint

We would like you to know that there is really no built-in SharePoint Online Employee Directory.

The truth of the matter is that there is really no built-in employee directory in SharePoint. Looking back at the evolution of technologies, the only software that helps in finding information from the Active Directory is Delve.

However, looking at the technology today, you may feel Delve is old and doesn’t have a better look and feel. Moreover, they are very minimal or no customization options available.

How to create employee directory in SharePoint?

Since we all are aware of the fact that SharePoint has some of the most powerful features. But it requires technical coding to leverage these features without any hassles.

Let us take a closer look at all the ways and methods of creating SharePoint staff directory. But another thing to keep in mind is that every organization has different needs and team size and thus the steps may vary depending on it.

Few of the processes may involves manual entry and works best for the smaller organizations with 50-100 users.

For organization with more than 100 employees or, there are different things since manual work here can be challenging and time-consuming.

One of the solutions involves using a Custom List and also creating a SharePoint Gallery View on it for better presentation. How? Let’s see it more closely.

Step 1: Start by defining the field/ columns for your list/employee’s directory

These field are basically information’s that you want to show in your SharePoint Online Employee Directory. Employee directory field examples includes:

• Employee Name – Person
• Role – Single Line of Text
• Department – Choice
• Reporting To – Person
• Phone – Single Line of Text
• Photo – Image

Step 2: Create a Custom List in SharePoint Employee Directory

Creating custom lists with all the fields can be the next option in your to-do list. Below are the quick and easy steps jotted down to help you out in creating custom list.

• Access the SharePoint site, and click the New>List
• Now click on the option stating “Blank List”
• Start by giving a name to the list. Click Create
• Now click on +Add Column and add the columns that you defined in Step 1.

Step 3: Fill in the Information/ Content in your Employee Directory

You must start filling in the information with the right content. For doing this you can do it one-by-one or can also leverage the Grid View feature.

Step 4: Gallery View Creation

Next step in the process is to create a Gallery View.
Let us make it more clear for your, SharePoint Gallery View exists already out of the box. You can create your own gallery view that will allow you to give it any name + make it a default view if needed.

• For creating your gallery view, click the option labelled as “All Items” in the drop-down menu.
• Now click on the option “Create New View.”
• Start by giving your view a name. Choose View type and then Create View.
• Your created gallery will appear on your screen.

Step 5: Format Gallery View

When you are done with creating your SharePoint Gallery View, it automatically starts adding all the columns to the Gallery cards.
Although you still have few options in your hand. You can change the order of fields and the look and feel of the card.
To get the better look and feel you can:

• Start by clicking on the View drop-down
• Then select Format current view option
• Select Edit Card option, under the card designer
• Following the next screen, you can show/hider or even change the order of the fields.
• Once done with all the customizations and option, click on the “Save” button.4

Step 6: Pin Fields to the Filter Pane

We are almost done, here is the last step you can do to enjoy your employee directory is cleaning up the Filter Pane. With this it becomes easier for the employees to easily filter various attributes say department, employee contact list, employee phone list and various others.
You can pin the fields by following the steps below

• Select the option “Filter Pane” and Pin the columns. You can make selection of the columns you would like to appear on the filter pane.
• Leverage the “Remove” option you can also remove the image as per your choice.
• You SharePoint Employee Directory is all set to represent your organization structure and hierarchy.
• Clicking on the filter, can help you employee list accordingly

Conclusion

With this small guide you can easily set up your employee directory in SharePoint. The employee directory will not only represent your brand’s identity but will also help in boosting internal communication and collaboration. Learn more Migrate SharePoint designer workflow to SharePoint online

FAQ’s

Does Microsoft Teams have a directory?

Microsoft Teams enables businesses to give their users personalized directory views. If your firm has several businesses under its premises that you wish to keep apart, these perspectives may be helpful.

Does Microsoft have an employee directory?

With a simple, easy-to-use design, the Employee Directory add-in puts your people directory at your fingertips.

• Dipankar
• Jan 22, 2025