most likely placeholder icons are not active in SICF
http://scn.sap.com/people/ashok.kumarm/blog/2013/08/19/new-features-in-search-lane--hr-renewal-10--feature-pack-4 does the employees have photos? are they correctly displayed in employee profile? you can do a quick f12 developer tool trace and see the error. SAP -> PUBLIC -> BUSINESSSUITE -> TM -> ICONS