Microlearning That Drives a Culture of Safety

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At Flagger Force, safety is more than policy—it’s their culture. And it starts with smart, accessible training and open communication. Luke Lazar and Leslie McRobbie of Flagger Force, an industry-leading, short-term traffic control company, share how their “In the Zone” app and FF Learn microlearning program are keeping thousands of field employees engaged, informed, and safe every single day.

 

Show Notes:

Chances are that if you drive in a region where Flagger Force is working, their team members have guided you safely through a construction zone.  Luke Lazar and Leslie McRobbie of Flagger Force share how innovative strategies—from mobile apps to microlearning—are enhancing safety, engagement, and company culture. Key takeaways include:

• Meet Learners Where They Are—Literally: Use mobile-first platforms for communication and training with employees in the field. Choose tools that mimic social apps your employees already use for easy adoption and engagement.
• Keep It Short, Consistent, and Relevant: Build a regular cadence of bite-sized content. Prioritize clarity, brevity, and usefulness over length and formality.
• Listen First, Then Train: Actively monitor employee feedback channels. Use those insights to shape or update training in real-time.
• Create Clear, Structured Learning Pathways: Map out clear development tracks with self-paced content and targeted skill-building that employees can follow at their own speed.
• Use Technology to Reinforce Confidence in the Field: Consider QR codes, AR, or interactive guides to offer just-in-time training—especially for tools, processes, or tasks that aren’t used every day. 
   

About Flagger Force: Flagger Force is a Safety-Driven®, industry-leading, short-term traffic control company serving the eastern United States. We leverage our best-in-class resources and expertise to support the nation’s expanding utilities, telecommunications, and other infrastructure-centered needs. We are committed to keeping our communities moving and that goes beyond traffic control. We strive to provide career and personal growth opportunities and give back to the communities where we live and work.

Learn more about Flagger Force microlearning technology partner, EduMe. 

Powered by Learning earned Awards of Distinction in the Podcast/Audio and Business Podcast categories from The Communicator Awards and a Gold and Silver Davey Award. The podcast is also named to Feedspot's Top 40 L&D podcasts and Training Industry’s Ultimate L&D Podcast Guide.

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Transcript:

Susan Cort: [00:00:00] An industry leader in work zone safety, Flagger Force has built a geographically dispersed team that puts education and safety first. 

Luke Lazar: You know, the effort, the energy that we commit, that we put in to, uh, having engaging content, meeting the employees they need to be. Um, you know, optimizing what we're doing, giving them a voice to communicate with us, uh, that that's really, uh, what it was all about.

Susan Cort: That's Luke Lazar, vice President of Risk and Safety at Flagger Force. Luke and Training Manager Leslie McRobbie join d’Vinci’s Angeline Evans and me to share the unique ways they deliver training and engage their workforce. Next on Powered by Learning. 

Announcer: Powered by Learning is brought to you by d’Vinci Interactive. d’Vinci’s approach to learning is grounded in 30 years of innovation and expertise. We use [00:01:00] proven strategies and leading technology to develop solutions that empower learners to improve quality and boost performance. Learn more@dvinci.com. 

Susan Cort: Joining us today are d’Vinci Client Solutions Consultant Angeline Evans and our guests from Flagger Force, Luke Lazar, Vice President of Risk and Safety, and Leslie McRobbie, training Manager. Welcome to you both. 

Angeline Evans: Hi everyone. 

Leslie McRobbie: Hi. 

Luke Lazar: Hello. Thank you for having us. 

Susan Cort: Thanks. We're looking forward to the conversation. Uh, Luke, start off by telling us a little bit about what Flagger Force does, and then share some information about your role at the company. And then Leslie would love to hear what you do, too. 

Luke Lazar: Sure. Thank you. Uh, Flagger Force is an industry leading short term traffic control, uh, company that is headquartered in Hummelstown or Central Pennsylvania with operations that span the eastern third of the United States. We have, uh. A little more than 2000 professionals in the field on any given day [00:02:00] setting up and operating in approximately 1000 active work zones.

Uh, short term traffic control is traffic control that is set up and torn down all within one day. Um, and, uh, our services. Or provided to support construction, energy, utilities, telecommunications, infrastructure work, uh, across our footprint as the Vice President of Risk and Safety. My, uh, key role is to strategize on policies and practices to ensure the safety of our employees and our clients, um, throughout each day on every job.

I also have responsibility for mentoring and coaching the safety team, the safety professionals who primarily focus on preventing work zone related incidents and oversee. I also oversee the company's educational processes. 

Leslie McRobbie: And I'm the training manager at Flagger Force and I lead a team of trainers and develop learning [00:03:00] programs so that our employees stay safe and prepared in the field.

Um, I create everything from micro learnings to hands-on learning, um, and courses. And I work closely with our supervisors to make sure classes are meeting the operational needs of the organization. Um, I'm also focused on helping our trainers to grow professionally and keeping our education aligned with best practices and safety standards.

Susan Cort: Angeline and I live in Central Pennsylvania, and I'm pretty sure that Central Pennsylvania is under a constant state of construction. 

Angeline Evans: So true. 

Susan Cort: See, I see the Flagger Force team members out all the time and can really appreciate what they're doing and certainly understand the need for training because they are out in the middle of it every day. So thank you for all that they do. 

Angeline Evans: Yeah, so you have a really dispersed workforce, um, with only fewer than 200 people reporting to an office. And Luke, you mentioned, I think 2000 folks out in the field. How do you keep a sense of team and a strong company culture when that's really, you know, the nature of the job?

Luke Lazar: Yeah, that, that's correct. [00:04:00] Uh, we have a small group or small percentage of people that report to offices on any given day. That's primarily our corporate, uh, support staff and folks that work within our operations services center, which, uh, primarily dispatches and supports our, our field operations. Uh, with our workforce being, you know, primarily desk and very dispersed. We have, uh, worked on innovative methods to, uh, engage with the employees and deliver information in, in formats and in manners that are tailored to meet their specific needs. One of the primary ways that we do that is through our customized field communication app, which we call. Zone or ITZ.

And, uh, it really is, is an innovative way of communicating back and forth with field employees, dispersed workforce. It's done through a mobile app. It's downloaded on the employee's smartphone, and it allows [00:05:00] us to share content, uh, and collaborate with employees in in real time. Answering our crew members' questions and needs, reinforcing safety policies, and, uh, you know, just really helping them with their responsibilities in the field.

This, uh, internal communication app is really key to our strong culture. Our employees engage, uh. Very, very actively on the platform. Within the first year of rolling this application out, this program out in a, in a voluntary manner, we had approximately 98% engagement. So again, to think about, uh, asking people to engage in communications with the company and getting a near 100% engagement is really extraordinary.

And what we found is that, uh, those that do engage on the app, do stay connected, and we have a much higher retention, uh, an increased retention by 68% for those folks who [00:06:00] communicate actively on the app. And I think that e especially since Leslie has joined the training team, we we have absolutely flipped the script from, we train people to, we educate people.

And there's a noticeable difference there. And you, you can see Leslie's energy for the process and that's, you know, very contagious And, you know, you see it through the re rest of the training team and you see it in, you see it in the results, right? Again, voluntarily taking safety related training is just kind of unheard of.

Um, so for us to have such a high acceptance rate is, is really astonishing. 

Leslie McRobbie: Thank you so much, Luke. 

Angeline Evans: In the Zone. Well, first off, I love that title. Um, but what an incredible way to stay connected and 98% engagement like. Is that even heard of in an internal communications platform? That's incredible. Um, so it sounds [00:07:00] like I, I was gonna ask you if you had any challenges, but as you were talking, it sounds like it hit the ground running.

Was there anything that really surprised you when things kicked off? Aside from. The response and the engagement response you received? 

Luke Lazar: Well, uh, it, it is a catchy name. We, we, uh, we do have a few of those for our different programs around, around Flagger Force for sure. And I think we were all, uh, very pleasantly surprised by the engagement.

Right. I don't, I don't know that we, I. We're really prepared for the engagement that we did get, but I, I largely attribute that to the quality of the content on the platform. You know, the effort, the energy that we commit, that we put in to, uh, having engaging content, meeting the employees where we're they need to be, you know, optimizing what we're doing, giving them a voice to communicate with us, uh, that that's really what it was all about. [00:08:00] There certainly have been challenges along the way, you know, there's been, uh, technology challenges at time and, and a variety of other things. But yeah, we're very pleasantly surprised with, with what we do, but it takes a lot of effort.

Full-time members of our communications team work diligently to make sure it stays relevant for our field employees. 

Susan Cort: How do you do that? How do you make sure it's relevant? I mean, Leslie, when you're creating this content, how do you know that you're gonna get that 98% engagement? You must be, uh, as Luke said, meeting them where they are and what they need.

Leslie McRobbie: Yeah. The key is to staying relevant it's really just to, to keeping up with your employees, you know, being in the classroom, having your ears to the ground, watching those streams that we have where they're talking to each other, listening. Um, I think that's the human part of the, of the job is making sure you are meeting them where they are as people and not just as employees, right? Compliance is so important, but it's also really important, important to understand what they need as people, what they need as learners. So [00:09:00] it's, it's. Watching those test scores come in and seeing those gaps, identifying those gaps and understanding that you've gotta create the content that they need and that they want, um, finding out what those interests are and finding out what they're looking at and what they're engaging with, that's the way to do it.

So it's, it just involves having your eyes really open. 

Angeline Evans: So in addition to field communication, how else are you leveraging In the Zone? 

Luke Lazar: In the Zone is a very powerful communication tool. But one thing that I recognized shortly after joining the company was that we needed to be able to leverage our communication methodology to begin to educate people and.

We did a variety of, uh, searching and, and looking for platforms, and we landed on, uh, something referred to as microlearning. These three to five minute tidbits of learning that we deliver through a partnership actually between the organization that runs our ITZ application and [00:10:00] an organization referred to as EduMe, and we deliver those in what we call FF Learns or Flagger Force Learn micro learning educational pieces.

Angeline Evans: Leslie, talk to me a little bit more about how you're training folks in the field and bringing that relevancy piece up, but like what formats are you using? What's, what are they, what are they receptive to? 

Leslie McRobbie: We publish once a week. Our micro learnings, which are called FF learns through our LMS, which we push through ITZ.

So in our ITZ, we are able to once a week, just same time every week. Deliver micro learning and those contents are they, we keep them very short, right? Short, sweet, and to the point. We don't wanna take out a lot of time in their day. We don't want them to have to spend a lot of time digging. We just want quick content that starts with a brief introduction to focus attention.

We want a clear learning objective to preview. What are your gonna be your key takeaways? What are you gonna learn? Uh, we wanna deliver content in these short engaging bursts, clean visuals, minimal text. [00:11:00] We wanna end with a multiple choice quiz that explains the correct answers and explains the incorrect answers.

Why is it not this answer? We wanna wrap up a summary when we have a nice clear call to action. We use real life examples videos from flagger force incidents to bring lessons to life. You know, actual things that are gonna happen, not just things that have already happened, right? We're, we're gonna actually look at these situations and investigate them.

We wanna have varying formats, topics. We try to avoid repetition. We keep a pretty diligent list of what we've done. We also bring back seasonal things so we make sure it's relevant to the time. And again, we try to respond to those current field trends and needs. So we're making sure it's timely and relevant to them.

Angeline Evans: I love that you're doing almost those after action reviews with real things that have happened. Sorry, Luke, go ahead. It sounded like you were gonna say something. That's okay. 

Luke Lazar: I just was going to add a little bit to Leslie's comments. Um, so, uh, really if you think about the genesis of our Flagger Force learner FF Learn content, it was, the idea was again, to meet [00:12:00] people in the place that, uh most suits them to learn. Folks are very accustomed to looking at a mobile phone, looking for answers to problems, questions, or concerns. Uh, they're also used to, you know, spending some time throughout their workday, uh, whether it's on a break or at the beginning of the workday, looking at their phone and, and doing something.

So we decided to deliver these micro learning pieces through, through the app, directly through the app that they were already engaged in. Uh, we again got an  an extremely high acceptance rate. When we started FF Learn, it was completely voluntary. There was no need to, you didn't have to do it. There was no need to be on it.

And I challenge almost anybody to say what was a voluntary acceptance rate of any training, but specifically safety related training. And again, we exceeded that 90 percentile. So right out of the gate, the quality of the content and the understanding of [00:13:00] our employees, uh, and meeting them where they were, they mean they literally pull into a job site, have a few moments before they start.

They're, they pick their phone up and they look at the micro learning. They complete it. It's relevant for. For that day, and then they go about their business. And that's really what we, uh, what what started this whole program. We wanted to get it to them at the right time in the right, in the right format that they would accept it and engage in.

Later we added promotional prerequisite courses. We added some mandatory content. We, you know, have, have evolved the program over time, but we, we were literally astonished by the acceptance rate of voluntary safety training. 

Angeline Evans: I believe it. It sounds like you just have this innate safety culture. Has it always been that way or do you think these two, like the FF Learn and the In the Zone really propelled that forward?

Luke Lazar: We certainly have an [00:14:00] innate safety culture. That is, that is a true, that would be a true statement. Yeah. Our, you know, our tagline is we are that we're safety driven, right? Mm-hmm. It's on our vehicles and it's true, it's true literally, you know, from the board room to the break room, to the field to where everywhere that we go and it's, it truly is our culture.

We, we really can't discount the educational process that, uh, Leslie runs and, and the programs that we put people through. Yes, it contains micro learning, but it also, it contains extensive classroom training. It, it contains tabletop exercises and hands-on experiences in the class in around the classroom, but it also includes on job training.

I think what drives our safety culture is. All of that combined effort. Um, and it being, you know, essentially, uh, I would say continuous, and you might even use the word relentless, [00:15:00] uh, to make sure that people are, you know, part of that culture and fit into it 

Susan Cort: Well, I like what you mentioned when we spoke a few weeks ago, Leslie, about how you're really monitoring what they're all talking about in the field.

I remember you used an example of somebody I think, who felt dehydrated and your team's able to respond. Kind of in real time with, with helpful trainings, talk about that two-way process and how that helps the training, uh, be even more meaningful. 

Leslie McRobbie: Yeah. Having that stream and having them be able to bring up the issues that they're experiencing allow us to be able to create that custom content that gets out as soon as we need to.

The information that maybe we already have put out there, but they haven't seen. Maybe just as a reminder, like, Hey, we do offer this. We have that, you know. Just basically helping them understand the policies that are already in place, but, um, allowing them to, to see it now in a fresher way and, and get that information to them.

So it is, it's a two-way contact. Um, [00:16:00] it, it also, there's chat features on it. We're able to get communication about changes. We're able to have all this communication so that it doesn't feel just like I'm on the other end, but I'm far, far away. I'm here. I'm with you. We're together. We can get through this together.

So whatever you need, bring it to my attention. We can make changes. I just had a good conversation with somebody about our CPR program today on the phone, and then he went and made a post on the stream about our great conversation. He tagged me on it, and people are all commenting, and that's so fun, right?

We get this kind of social aspect to our professional conversation. So I think that's what makes it really great is this, you know, conversational, we can work together. I'm not so far away. Corporate feels like together 

Susan Cort: And you're making it convenient and uh, in a platform that is very similar to a lot of the social platforms that we all use every day for personal reasons. 

Leslie McRobbie: Exactly. Yeah. It's very familiar to them it's no, there's re no learning curve for them. 'cause they know exactly what they need to do. 

Luke Lazar: It very much looks like other platforms that they, they routinely engage in. [00:17:00] Right. The kind of concept of the vertical scroll, the concept of being able to comment or, you know, give the thumbs up or whatever else the case might be, and, and the expectation that there, there is a degree of freedom in that.

But also a degree of professionalism within that. Mm-hmm. But also the fact that when, um, when the question is asked, they, they get a response. And what we oftentimes find is that the response comes from their peers rather than their superiors, right? So they might come back and say, you know, make a comment about this doesn't seem right, or how do I do this?

And before a member of the safety team or the training can get to them, there may already be a post that goes up from one of their peers that says, you know, this is, this is the typical application that you should be using in this environment. 

Susan Cort: I love that. 

Angeline Evans: That's some social learning at its finest right there.

Susan Cort: Yes. 

Susan Cort: They're all a part of the training team. That's exceptional. 

Angeline Evans: Talk [00:18:00] to me more about the structured pathways and voluntary training that your staff can take. 

Leslie McRobbie: We have pathways that are structured so that when somebody comes in as a crew member, they're able to become a crew leader through these structured pathways.

And when in the LMS, they can automatically start taking classes to get them set up for success for the next level. So, we've selected classes that we feel would have information for them that would be really helpful for getting them to that next level. It'll automatically set them into that class and then they can take those on their own time to prepare for the next class.

And that way they're coming in with a little bit more knowledge than they would've had just having gone through that first class. That gets them up for a little bit more success and hopefully also shows that initiative that they're interested in taking it. It's a good sign for us and it. And it gives us just that opportunity to make sure that anything we're not covering in class, right, we're identifying gaps that maybe we can't cover or can be covered better through these, um, learnings so that way we can do more hands-on in the classroom.

So, in a lot of ways [00:19:00] it's great, but it, it also is really important to have a lot of structure for them and it allows us to cover client specific training. Um, there's a lot we can do with that depending on where they are. So you can do a lot of custom things with those pathways. Mm-hmm. 

Angeline Evans: And the formats to the individ, the individual learning experiences in those pathways may vary from the micro learning to classroom to on the job. Is that correct? 

Leslie McRobbie: Yeah, we really like a hybrid experience because the fact is it's just not one size fits all. It depends on your market, it depends on what you're going for. So it's important that there be a blend for everybody. It also helps, um, kind of make it not so, you know, “Death by PowerPoint Only” and uh, only micro learnings.

And that way you get the support you need at the field level and the classroom level and on your own. So we try to make sure we mix it up.

Angeline Evans: Absolutely. I love that hybrid experience, um, approach, especially for, for the audience you have. So any advice for other teams or [00:20:00] organizations like yours that may have workers in the field who are, who rarely sit at a desk, how to reach them and train them and, you know, track the learning experience, just overall?

What are some of your words of wisdom? 

Luke Lazar: I think that what I would say is that it, it takes effort. You have to be willing to commit the effort. You have to have the quality individuals who are committed and willing to work to, uh, make these systems work. Right? We've, um. We've talked to many people about our, our application and the one thing that seems to be, uh, the, the Achilles heel for organizations to be successful with it is the commitment of resources to make sure that it is as successful as it can possibly be.

We have very strong communication team. Leslie is leading an exceptional educational group and tremendous effort and energy put toward it and we [00:21:00] allow those teams, we encourage those teams to put that effort into these systems. 

Leslie McRobbie: I would just add, don't underestimate the field employees desire to learn. Um, I think sometimes we forget that human element of, you know, oh, they're out in the field.

They're not gonna wanna learn. They don't wanna come to the classroom, they're not going to wanna take these trainings. People get really excited about them, and when we post about them, they'll write underneath the post. Done. I did mine, I did mine this morning. I did mine last night. You know, they are excited to learn, especially if it's meaningful and accessible.

So, um, they'll show, they'll show up for it. My, my theory is the, if you build it, they will come. Right? Um, keep it real and relevant and, um, make it easy for them to get to and, um, make sure that you're. You're keeping it short, friendly, and, um, and that you build it from a place of trust and respect. I think that it makes all the difference for them 

Susan Cort: And it makes them, I'm sure, feel a part of the training process and, and just helps retain them as, as team members with your [00:22:00] company.

Angeline Evans: That's excellent advice. So when we spoke prior, you mentioned that you were using QR codes for video refreshers. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? 

Leslie McRobbie: Yeah. We create video refreshers to support safe and effective equipment use in the field. So while employees do receive hands-on learning in the classroom for the equipment, they may not get regular use of the equipment or that type of equipment.

So it could be a brand difference that they're experiencing. So to bridge the gap we developed, um. Brand specific video guides that walk through step by step, how to use the equipment to troubleshoot through the equipment and uh, to how to operate it properly. So it supports visual learners who benefit from seeing how tasks are done in action.

Um, so we then put QR codes directly on the equipment so that you can scan your phone and it links right to the guide so that they can click step by step and follow along while they're setting up the equipment. Um, which just helps build confidence, um, in real time, [00:23:00] which is really important, which then hopefully will help minimize.

Risk injury, help prevent equipment damage and reduce any operational disruptions because sometimes people will say, this equipment was broken, and we'll go to look at it, and it wasn't broken. They just didn't operate it correctly. So if we have these QR codes there, that really helps to get them walked through the process.

Now the codes go back to a Bitly link, which will show us how many people are using it. So we know if it's being used or not. And we have those separated by markets so we know where they're being used when they're being used, so we can even see what slide they got to. So then we can identify what's the area of concern.

And it's like, oh, it's the pin. The pin on this one is the problem. So that's really great 'cause then we can target our classroom instruction to really that problem area and say, we know that the whole thing needs to be taught, but really this is where people get stuck. So I think it's a really cool tool that we have.

Angeline Evans: Yeah. What an excellent way to just reinforce learning and use that data to beef up your [00:24:00] classroom training where it needs to be and give them that, uh, you know, information in their moment of need. Yeah. So what's next for learning at Flagger Force? Are there any innovations on the rise? I mean, you quite frankly, sound very innovative as it stands, but we love to ask, especially with ai, that AI being out there now, what organizations are up to and thinking about in the future.

Leslie McRobbie: Um, so continuing those structured pathways and certainly, um, leveraging AI in all of our processes as we can. We are only, I think, limited by our imagination. So I think that's gonna be the key, is not letting ourselves get in our own way. Um, I think expanding those client specific trainings is huge, especially as we grow our footprint and we encounter more clients and making sure they understand that whatever their needs are, we can meet them and we will find that way to get, uh, whatever it is they, they are expecting.

Or they have to have, if it's OSHA 10 and we can't provide that for our trainers, let's find a way to work to [00:25:00] accommodate by creating a curriculum that aligns with OSHA 10, but works better for our employees. So, um, onboarding is getting a major upgrade and that's going to make a huge difference for our classroom to make the classroom portion more engaging and less paperwork heavy. Um, we are exploring augmented reality so that we can, um, simulate high risk scenarios in, um, a safe, controlled environment. Maybe escape routes or watching your partner's back, but in a way that doesn't put anybody into harm. Um, we're continuing to lean into animation. Um, so that we can show setups, tear downs, and, um, really helps with those visual learners.

Um, and then, yeah, I think we just have a lot on the horizon and as long as we have these amazing tools and we keep our eye out and we keep learning about what's to come, we keep growing. We're gonna be in good shape. 

Susan Cort: I think also on the horizon is another episode of Powered by Learning in a year or two because 

Angeline Evans: Yeah, I, 

Susan Cort: you have so many great things coming up.We're going to have to have you back on. 

Leslie McRobbie: Yeah, we're excited. [00:26:00] Yeah, it's, it's good. It's good to have something to look forward to and to know that, um. You know, it's gonna benefit so many people. Right? That's the joy of education is that it spreads out and then it goes down, right? Like I can go out and teach one person how to do something, but I love being able to give those trainers that knowledge so that they can teach all those people and then they can go out and teach those people. And the tree is beautiful. 

Susan Cort: and you're keeping your team members safe and the community safe, which is just a another wonderful benefit. 

Leslie McRobbie: Great layer. Yeah. 

Susan Cort: Well, thank you very much for joining us today. We appreciate you sharing your insights and continued success in all that you're doing. 

Leslie McRobbie: Thank you so much.

Luke Lazar: Thank you for having us. 

Susan Cort: My thanks to d’Vinci’s Angeline Evans, and our guests from Flagger Force, Luke Lazar and Leslie McRobbie. If you have questions about this episode or ideas for future ones, please reach out at Info@PoweredbyLearning.com. And don't forget to subscribe to Powered by Learning wherever you listen to your [00:27:00] podcasts.