Background: Employee recognition has been linked to such positive outcomes as job satisfaction, organizational and career commitment, cohesion and collaboration, and perceived organizational support. A lack of meaningful recognition has been linked to negative outcomes such as absenteeism and turnover, stress and burnout, and decreased quality of patient care.Methods: A comprehensive descriptive and comparative cross-sectional study on employee recognition policies and programs for medical and non-medical staff in a public and a private hospital in India was conducted from April 2012 to October 2012. A 200 bedded public hospital with the staff strength of 140 and a 110 bedded private hospital with total staff strength of 160 participated in the study.Results: There were no doctors or technicians who did not enjoy their job. There were small number of nurses who didn’t enjoy the job (8% and 10% in public and private hospital respectively). For housekeeping staff, there was much variability in the option for, “Somewhat Enjoy” from 14% to 45% in public and private hospital respectively. Majority of doctors (87.5% and 80%) in public and private hospital respectively, were unhappy with the workload of their job. Also, significant number of nurses (44% and 27.5%) and technicians (20% and 20%) in public and private hospital respectively, were unhappy with the workload of their job.Conclusions: It is well established that good salary structure, good promotion opportunities and good training is important for employee satisfaction, but employee recognition also plays an important role.