A Comparative Study of Employee Cognitive Empowerment at Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital in Zahedan City

Abstract Experts in organizational change management consider empowerment of human resources as an effective strategy for the improvement of staff performance. This study aimed to compare the cognitive empowerment level of medical staff, administrative staff, and service workers at Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital in Zahedan city. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 271 employees at Khatam Hospital in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected using Mishra & Spreitzer standard questionnaire, which included five sections: sense of competence, impact, meaning, self-determination, and trust. This questionnaire has been previously used in Iran and its reliability and validity have been confirmed. Statistical analyses were performed by t-test and one-way ANOVA, using SPSS version 18. We observed relatively high cognitive empowerment in employees (74.87±18.97), particularly among the administrative staff (76.44±17.45). There was no statistically significant difference among the three job categories with regard to cognitive empowerment score. According to the results of this study, the components of employee empowerment are at an acceptable level in Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital. Therefore, authorities, when assigning responsibilities to their staff, should pay particular attention to their skills and create an environment to profit from the high level of employee empowerment.