Hospital Managers’ Empowering Behavior as Perceived by the Healthcare Workers in a Hospital in Ormoc City, Philippines: Proposed Hospital Management Plan

Abstract

Background: Leadership empowerment promotes positive workplace dynamics, employee satisfaction, workforce performance, and quality patient care. However, limited research has examined empowering leadership behaviours across healthcare departments, particularly in Philippine hospital settings. Objective: This study aimed to assess empowering leadership behaviours among healthcare workers in a hospital in Ormoc City, Leyte, Philippines, and describe variations in perceived empowerment across departments. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 219 healthcare workers. The Leader Empowering Behavior Questionnaire (LEBQ) assessed perceived empowering leadership behaviours. Frequency distributions and proportions were used to describe participants’ profiles and reported empowering behaviours. Results: Most participants were aged 20–25 years (52.5%), female (65.6%), from the Nursing Department (72.1%), and had 1–2 years of experience (44.3%). High levels of empowering leadership behaviours were reported in information sharing (93.6%), accountability (89.0%), skill development opportunities (89.0%), authority delegation (87.7%), self-directed decision-making (86.3%), and innovation coaching (84.5%). Innovation and risk-taking were identified as areas for improvement. The Laboratory Department reported higher perceived empowerment than other departments. Novelty/Contribution: This study provides department-specific evidence on empowering leadership behaviours in a Philippine hospital, contributing empirical evidence to the application of Kanter’s Theory of Structural Empowerment in healthcare and informing department-responsive leadership strategies. Conclusion/Implications: Hospital management demonstrated generally effective empowering leadership behaviours. Strengthening innovation, mentoring less-experienced workers, and enhancing leadership development programmes may further improve workforce performance and patient care. Limitation: The cross-sectional design and self-reported data limit causal interpretation, while the single-hospital setting may restrict generalisability.