Company Directory: The Complete Guide

In today's professional world, where remote collaboration and cross-functional teams have become the norm, the employee photo directory emerges as an essential tool to strengthen team cohesion. More than just a gallery of portraits, it facilitates internal communication, humanizes professional relationships, and highlights each employee.

Whether it's a large corporation, a small or medium-sized enterprise, a non-profit organization, or a public institution, having a well-designed professional photo directory helps build connections, quickly identify contacts, and streamline interactions. With modern and customizable designs, the photo directory also serves as a reflection of the organization's culture and values.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the benefits of an employee photo directory, best practices for its implementation, and the latest innovations offered by Mozzaik365 to create a stylish and interactive photo directory, seamlessly integrated into your Microsoft 365 environment.

1. What is a professional photo directory?

‍A professional photo directory is a visual tool that presents the members of an organization through a series of portraits accompanied by key information such as name, position, and contact details. Traditionally used in companies, it facilitates the identification of colleagues and strengthens internal communication.

In the nonprofit context, an association photo directory serves a similar role by presenting volunteers, board members, or project participants. It promotes transparency and engagement within the organization. retines.fr

With the evolution of digital tools, the photo directory has modernized to become an interactive element of the Digital Workplace. It can include features such as skill-based search, organizational chart visualization, and integration with platforms like Microsoft 365.‍

2. Why implement a company photo directory?‍

In a constantly evolving professional environment, the company photo directory stands out as a strategic tool to strengthen internal communication and team cohesion.

A. Make it easier to identify colleagues‍

Putting a face to a name helps personalize interactions and reinforce connections between colleagues, especially in large organizations or multisite structures.

B. Improve internal communication‍

A well-designed photo directory encourages interaction by allowing everyone to understand the roles and skills of their coworkers, making collaboration and responsiveness easier across teams.

C. Strengthen the company’s image‍

Presenting employees in a professional and consistent way through a professional photo directory helps convey a positive image of the company, both internally and externally.

E. Simplify the onboarding of new employees‍

For new hires, a photo directory is a valuable tool to quickly become familiar with colleagues and understand the company structure, thereby accelerating integration.

F. Highlight team members‍

Showcasing team members in a photo directory demonstrates recognition of their role in the organization, enhancing their sense of belonging and motivation.

4. Focus on Mozzaik365’s stylish photo directory‍

The professional photo directory by Mozzaik365 is designed to provide an intuitive and customizable interface, making it easier to search and view profiles within your organization. It integrates seamlessly into your Microsoft 365 environment by leveraging data from Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and SharePoint’s User Profile Application (UPA). mozzaik365.zendesk.com

🔍 Powerful and contextual search

The component allows for efficient colleague searches using customizable filters:

• Name
  
• Department
  
• Skills
  
• Project
  
• Any other relevant profile attribute
  

It’s also possible to define the search scope contextually to target a specific group, such as a department, country, project, or site.

🎨 Display customization

The photo directory offers several customization options to match your visual identity and operational needs:

Layout:

• Define the number of results to display.
  
• Choose whether or not to display all profiles by default.
  

Display options:

• Customize the properties visible in the detailed profile.
  
• Enable or disable profile sharing.
  
• Hide the component on mobile if needed.
  
• Adjust border radius and shadows to align with your visual design.
  

These options make it possible to create a stylish photo directory that’s consistent with your organization’s brand identity.

🛠️ Integration and configuration

The component integrates easily into a SharePoint page:

• Open the page in edit mode.
  
• Add the "Photo Directory" component from the catalog.
  
• Configure the settings according to your needs.
  

For advanced configuration, especially for profile and filter customization, it is recommended to refer to the official documentation.

🔗 Synchronization with Entra ID

The data displayed in the photo directory (name, position, department, contact details, photo, etc.) is automatically synchronized with Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). This ensures that each employee profile remains up to date and consistent with Microsoft 365 accounts.

Example: when an employee changes position in the global directory, the photo directory reflects this change automatically, with no manual update needed.

🌐 Direct integration with Microsoft 365

The component uses Microsoft 365 profile data (formerly Delve) to enrich user cards and offer a contextualized experience. Users can access useful links directly from a profile: Teams, Outlook, or even the complete Microsoft 365 profile of a colleague.

5. UX/UI best practices for an original photo directory‍

An original photo directory goes beyond listing employee faces. It reflects your company culture, structures information clearly, and facilitates interaction. Here are the best practices to follow when designing an effective, stylish photo directory in a Microsoft 365 environment:

🎨 Focus on design to drive engagement

Visual appeal is key. The format you choose should align with your identity:

• Grid or card layout: ideal for a clean, modern presentation.
  
• Illustrated or graphic photo directory: adds a creative touch in more casual contexts (startups, associations, agencies).
  
• Team-based layout: enables grouping by project, department, or geographic entity.
  

🧩 Tip: Mozzaik365 allows you to customize border radius, shadows, number of profiles displayed, and mobile styling to match your brand guidelines.

📸 Standardize your portraits‍

To convey a professional image, ensure that employee photos are:

• Recent, clear, and high quality
  
• Visually consistent (background, framing, posture)
  
• In line with your company tone (formal, friendly, dynamic, etc.)
  

🎯 Pro tip: Schedule a photo shoot during onboarding or internal events.

🔍 Make navigation smooth and practical

A good professional photo directory is not just for browsing—it’s for finding people. Include:

• A multi-criteria search bar: name, department, skills, location, project…
  
• Dynamic filters based on your structure (subsidiary, role, country, etc.)
  
• Direct links to Teams, Outlook, or the Microsoft 365 user profile
  

🧠 Goal: allow any employee to find the right person at the right time in just a few seconds.

🖥️ Adapt the experience for all screens

Your photo directory must be fully responsive:

• Desktop, tablet, and mobile compatible
  
• Readable without zooming
  
• Functional even with low bandwidth
  

📱 With Mozzaik365, you can even choose to hide the component on mobile when appropriate.

♻️ Keep your photo directory up to date

An outdated photo directory becomes counterproductive. To ensure relevance:

• Connect it to Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) for automatic data sync
  
• Assign an HR or IT contact to oversee accuracy
  
• Easily add new hires and archive former employees
  
• Allow employees to enrich their profiles via custom fields (e.g., skills, hobbies, project teams)
  

6. Photo directory vs. org chart: complementary use cases‍

In many organizations, photo directories and org charts are confused. However, these two tools serve different purposes—and are in fact highly complementary within a modern Digital Workplace.

📌 The org chart: visualize hierarchical structure

An org chart is primarily a structuring tool:

• It maps out reporting lines, functional links, and management hierarchies.
  
• It’s commonly used by HR, management, and new hires to understand the organizational framework.

Limitations:

• It doesn’t always reflect operational reality (cross-functional projects, agile methods, communities of practice…).
  
• It’s often static and difficult to maintain manually.
  

👥 The photo directory: foster connection and collaboration

In contrast, a professional photo directory focuses on people: it highlights profiles, skills, interactions, and the human side of the organization.

Key strengths:

• Clear visual display of all employees
  
• Fast access to contact info, teams, skills, and project roles
  
• Useful for all employees—not just managers
  

➡️ It becomes a driver of engagement, recognition, and internal connectivity.

🔄 Two tools to use together in Microsoft 365

With a solution like Mozzaik365, you don’t have to choose between an org chart and a photo directory—you can use both intelligently:

• Display a dynamic hierarchical org chart generated from Entra ID
  
  
• Offer a stylish and interactive photo directory with filters by team, country, department, or skill

🔗 The result: a structured yet human view of your organization.

‍

7. How to set up a professional directory in Microsoft 365?

Setting up an effective professional directory is not just about displaying photos on a SharePoint page. It is a real project involving information structuring, employee recognition, and smoother communication. Here are the key steps to successfully deploy it with Mozzaik365 in a Microsoft 365 environment.

🧱 1. Prepare the data in Entra ID‍

It all starts with the quality of the data in your Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), the main source of information for user profiles. Make sure that:

• Each employee has an up-to-date profile: photo, position, department, email, phone, manager, etc.
• The useful custom attributes (project teams, location, skills…) are filled in or ready to be integrated.
• Obsolete accounts are deactivated to avoid duplicates or errors.

💡 Mozzaik365 can also leverage enriched data from HR tools or additional directories.

🧩 2. Define the fields and filters to display‍

To make the directory truly useful:

• Select the most relevant information to display on the profile card (role, email, Teams, location…).
• Activate intelligent navigation filters according to your needs: by department, country, legal entity, status, etc.
• Choose the display order of the fields and the layout.

🎨 Tip: you can also decide to display the directory by default or after a search, depending on the expected level of confidentiality.

🔧 3. Configure the component in your SharePoint intranet‍

Thanks to its native integration, the Mozzaik "Directory" component can be configured in just a few clicks:

• Add the component to a page of your Mozzaik365 intranet.
• Define the display options (number of results, card size, visual style).
• Activate or not features such as profile sharing, opening in a side panel, etc.
• Test the user experience with a small group before generalizing it.

📱 Also check the display on mobile and tablet.

🤝 4. Involve stakeholders‍

A good directory is the result of collaboration between several teams:

• The IT department for data quality and integration.
• HR for role structuring and onboarding.
• Internal communications for user experience and design.
• Managers to encourage updating profiles in Microsoft 365.

💬 Advice: train users to complete their profile (skills, project teams…) to continuously enrich the directory.

🔁 5. Keep the directory up to date‍

This is essential to its success:

• Automate synchronization with Entra ID.
• Remove inactive profiles.
• Create a simple update process in case of role, team, or onboarding changes.

8. Conclusion & Resources‍

The company photo directory is more than just a visual tool—it’s a strategic lever for streamlining communication, strengthening company culture, and showcasing your teams. Easy to deploy—especially when connected to your Microsoft 365 environment via Mozzaik365—it becomes a friendly gateway to your entire Digital Workplace.

Whether used by a business, a government agency, or a nonprofit organization, a well-designed professional photo directory promotes collaboration, simplifies new employee onboarding, and reflects the energy of your organization.

👉 Ready to take action?
Mozzaik365 offers a free checklist to help you structure your project step by step—from data preparation to configuration in Microsoft 365.

📞 Or contact our team to schedule a personalized demo of the “Photo Directory” component.