The FORCE is with Lloyd Security

MINNEAPOLIS—Having the correct company culture is the key to a company's success, according to Jill Lloyd, who started Lloyd Security in 2001 after working for Honeywell and Security Link. Her in-company FORCE program is doing very well for her.

Lloyd Security, which went from just over $1 million in sales in 2012 to $2.3 million in 2014, has worked hard on developing that culture, Lloyd told Security Systems News: “We've had exceptional growth over the past two years.”

Lloyd has 17 employees and 3,000 customers. About 60 percent of the company's work is residential. “There's more pressure on the residential market. You get focused on commercial, but video is key,” she said.

“We have a great culture, and we link that to our growth. We have the right people in the right seats,” she said.

“Minnesota has a low unemployment rate, it's hard to find good people,” but workers from the Millennial generation are a perfect fit for her, she said. “My team is very young. We really get focused on our core values—FORCE.” She does have some older employees as well.

FORCE stands for focus, operating, rewarding, commitment and experience beyond expectations.

It's an internal program Lloyd Security developed and the company “hires and fires” by those principles, she said.

FORCE gives rewards, with the ultimate prize “EnFORCER of the Year.” That winner gets to select something out of his or her “personal bucket list” as a reward. Last year's winner chose parachuting out of an airplane. Special FORCE events on Fridays, such as lobster boils, also boost morale and productivity, she said.

“We've worked hard to develop our culture,” Lloyd said.

The company has been looking to “seamlessly” acquire, “but Minnesota is a fairly conservative market,” Lloyd said. “It's hard to get people to move.”

Lloyd Security started out as an alarm company, but now is a fully integrated security, home automation and video surveillance provider.

Jill Lloyd also works withRotary international, the EWomen Network, Executive Connections, GE Security Pro Deale Network and the Entrepreneurs' Organization of Minnesota​.

She was named as one of the Women in Security Council's s 2015 Women of the Year.

This story is part of a Women in Security special report. For the seventh consecutive year, Security Systems News is highlighting women who are making their mark in the traditionally male-dominated world of security.