“It’s all about helping people solve problems”
Q&A with Dennis Twomey, Managing Director at iCQ Awards
Many of our iCQ Awards centres will know Dennis Twomey, who has been a permanent fixture at iCQ since it was established. During this time, he has worked closely with our network of experts who support the delivery of qualifications, as well as our customers to ensure they are getting the most out of using our awarding and assessment services.
We caught up with Dennis to talk about what’s happening at iCQ Awards at the moment, and about the organisation joining The Workforce Development Trust group.
Dennis – for anybody that might not know you, tell us a bit about your role at iCQ Awards.
Hmmm, this isn’t as straightforward to answer as you may think it should be. My role is that of Managing Director and responsible officer, but I see my primary function as ensuring that I support the iCQ Awards team in all aspects of their roles. I want to help them to identify areas that we can develop as a business, and drive change or improvements that benefit customers and learners.
I tend to get involved in all areas of the business and I am very much a “back to the floor” person. I like to carry out all functions from time to time, from printing certificates to answering support requests. This is how I can better understand what help is needed improve all areas of operations – for our team members as well as the customer and learner experience of working with iCQ.
What is it about awarding and assessments that motivates you?
It’s all about helping people solve problems, making sure that the opportunity to gain qualifications and recognition of skills is open to all individuals, at any stage of their lives.
Many people, for many reasons, don’t thrive in formal education – for some they don’t have the best start in life, or they have needs that the education system didn’t meet, for example. Being a small part of their journeys and supporting those learning opportunities is a way we can contribute to their success and self-esteem.
Keeping access open to everybody so that they have tools to develop and achieve as individuals is what drives me to promote change and evolution in the assessment industry.
Since you started iCQ, what achievements are you most proud of?
There is, without a doubt, one stand-out moment. Several years ago I received a letter from the mother of a young man with Tourette’s syndrome. He had really struggled to obtain a job, and when he did was unable to manage his condition sufficiently to stay in employment.
He was hired by one of our employer customers and commenced an NVQ using iLearner, and his line manager quickly identified that feedback via the system allowed him to read and absorb without triggering his condition. This made a big difference to being able to manage his condition, which was triggered by face-to-face and verbal feedback.
The employer accommodated the same approach to all aspects of the young man’s employment, and he successfully completed his probationary period and continued his employment.
It was a pretty humbling experience to see how what we do enabled such a good outcome, and how appreciative his family were.
iCQ Awards recently joined The Workforce Development Trust group – a registered charity. Why did this change come about and what does it mean for iCQ training centres and employers?
The Workforce Development Trust first reached out to iCQ in 2022 to explore the possibility of working together, and we communicated frequently around the possibility of iCQ becoming a member of the group. A key consideration for both of us was that we had compatible values, ethos and cultures. The directors of iCQ felt that becoming part of the group would help to enhance the customer experience by bringing new skills and approaches to what we do – as well as enable us to reach more employers, training providers for the benefit of learners.
In real terms, there is no direct impact on iCQs customers and learners. Since joining the group on 31 March, iCQ has continued to operate as it always has – with none of our services or operations affected in any way.
The Workforce Development Trust team have worked very hard, providing a new set of threads for our website and refreshing everything visually. I am really excited by the willingness and plans of all of our new and extended team to work with iCQ – and there are plenty of exciting plans in the works we will be sharing with customers and learners over the coming months!
It sounds like exciting times ahead for iCQ – what can we expect to see more of in the future?
Joining The Workforce Development Trust group provides iCQ with access to more resources, particularly people with skills and expertise that will help ensure that support for centres is continually enhanced.
There are a number of areas that we will be focussing on – from access to the complimentary eLearning resource currently offered by Skills for Health, qualifications offered by SFJ Awards, to a new scheme to match learners with recognised centres, to supporting large employers organise training and assessment services over larger geographical areas. Watch this space!
Finally, what would you say to anybody considering using iCQ Awards awarding, assessment or iLearner platform services?
Someone recently said to me that iCQ are the best kept secret in the awarding and End-Point Assessment world. We always have and will continue to look to work closely with our centres – our ethos is to be a partner for customers to help people get things right, not tell them that they have done something wrong.
Our team at iCQ have many many years of experience in supporting all aspects of assessment and awarding, and we are always delighted to discuss how we could support employers and training providers overcome the issues they face.