Different ways of photo acquisition

Collecting employee photos for a large company has many pitfalls. There are several ways to obtain photos:

• Do the upload directly into HR software: Many HR programs have a function that allows employees to upload their photos to their profiles. Advantage: often an existing solution. Disadvantage: old photos are used or the photos are not suitable (e.g. face too close/too far away, vacation pictures with beach in the background, pictures of the grandchildren, old wedding photos, etc.).
• Send an email request: You can send an email to all employees asking them to submit a photo of themselves. You can include guidelines for the type of photo you want (e.g., headshot, professional attire, solid color background) and a deadline for submission. Advantage: The solution is set up quickly. Disadvantage: For images without good quality (expect about 60% unusable photos via this channel) an enormous manual effort, format confusion (images are sent as GIF, PNG, PDF or Word), difficult in terms of data protection (deletion times, photos by e-mail).
• Set up a photo booth: You can set up a photo booth at a company event or in the office and invite employees to have their picture taken. Advantage: decent quality and up-to-date photos. Disadvantage: employees must be on site at the given time (which means that not all employees are reached), expensive especially in the long term, identification / naming of photos by employee number often prone to errors and manually time-consuming.
• Hire a photographer: there are photographers who specialize in taking employee photos. Advantage: good quality. Disadvantage: only on site for a short time, expensive and time-consuming coordination. Correct naming of photos (e.g. by employee number) manual and therefore prone to errors, not a long-term or scalable solution.
• Use purpose-built software such as Photo Collect to collect photos of your employees. This allows you to reach employees at the site as well as at home or on business trips. You get consistent quality and the photos are automatically named correctly. If photos need to be rejected, a defined process is available and time-consuming individual communication is eliminated. However, the solution must be procured at least a few days before the launch.

Whichever method you choose, make sure you clearly communicate with your employees what you are looking for and why a recent photo is important. You should also make sure you have permission to collect and use employee photos, and that you comply with all relevant privacy regulations.

We will be happy to guide you through the process of obtaining your employee photos, from defining the processes to importing the collected photos into your system. Contact us for an initial discussion and a personal demonstration of Photo Collect.