# Create a standard award

> Go to Recognition → Awards → Create award, choose Standard award and work through five steps. Creating the award doesn't nominate anyone or give out points.

- Product: Recognition › Awards and quotas
- Who can do this: Super admins and admins with manage awards
- Plan: Recognition
- Where: Admin dashboard
- Last checked: 15 Oct 2026
- Web page: https://www.vantagecircle.com/en/help/recognition/awards-and-quotas/create-a-standard-award/

A standard award gives reward points to someone a colleague nominates. Go to **Recognition → Awards**, select **Create award**, choose **Standard award** and select **Continue**.

![The award type choice, with Standard award selected above Panel award and CSV award](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133400/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/recognition-award-type-c892b04e01ebe2c7.png)

There are five steps: **Details**, **Eligibility and approvals**, **Reward points**, **Design** and **Certificate**.

## 1. Details

Enter an **Award name**. You can also add an **Award group** to keep related awards together, **Company values** for tags on the feed post, and an **Award description**.

If your company uses recognition questions, you'll see **Choose which answers lead to this award**. Choose one answer for each question in an answer set. Each answer set is an alternative route to the same award.

**Enable nomination justification** is off by default. Turn it on to make nominators explain their choice. You can add your own questions, with hint text and attachments, and use **Rate each question** to collect a 1–5 rating. The ratings help reviewers; they don't pick the winner.

![Nomination justification turned on, with one question and Rate each question turned on](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133398/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/recognition-award-justification-9c0e8158785079e2.png)

## 2. Eligibility and approvals

Under **Approval process**, choose **No approval needed** (the default), **One approval** or **Two approvals**. With approvals, you choose who approves at each level.

Then:

- **Award visibility:** choose at least one of the options shown. The options come from your company's settings.
- **Where is this award available?:** choose the countries, or **All countries** at the top of the list.
- **Optional limits:** **Nominator grade groups**, **Use eligibility rules**, **Tenure eligibility (months)** and **Limit nominations to specific employees**. For tenure, leave a field empty or enter 0 if there's no limit. If you turn **Use eligibility rules** off, the award saves without rules, even if you'd picked some.
- **Allow self-nominations:** appears if your company has self-nominations turned on. Choose **Self and others** or **Self only**.
- **Award limit:** if you see it, it applies one of your company's existing award-limit rules.

![The Eligibility and approvals step, with No approval needed selected, Shared ticked under Award visibility and India chosen as the country](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133396/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/recognition-award-eligibility-5eae9971a586d167.png)

The visibility options and their descriptions come from your company's settings, and **Award limit** and **Allow self-nominations** only show for some companies. Yours can differ from the picture.

## 3. Reward points

Choose one or more **Point amounts**. Only the amounts set up for your company are listed. If none are, contact Vantage Circle to have them added.

**Preview point amounts by country** shows what people receive in each country after your company's cost-of-living adjustments. Check the **Currency** column. The preview doesn't change the award.

![The Reward points step with 500 points selected and the country preview showing 500 points in India and 700 in the United States](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133399/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/recognition-award-points-b55d0aa595b5648e.png)

## 4. Design

Choose an icon and a background. Both are required.

## 5. Certificate

**Add a certificate for recipients** is off by default. If you turn it on, you must choose a template. You can filter templates by **Landscape** or **Portrait**.

Select **Create award**. Eligible employees can nominate for it straight away. Creating it doesn't nominate anyone or give out any points.