According to McCormick (2007), the first form of diversity in the workplace occurred in 1948, when President Truman passed Executive Order 9981 on whose main purpose was to promote equal treatment and opportunities in the world of work. the armed forces. Thus, scholars cite it as the origin of diversity in the workplace because President Truman, the committee charged with implementing the executive order, used it to pursue desegregation in the military. In the business world, many companies have long believed that assimilating new recruits into an organization requires their socialization to fit into the organization's existing culture. However, in recent decades, business organizations have realized that, for various reasons, organizational culture must conform if it is to attract and retain a competitive workforce. This shift has been driven by a number of workplace diversity initiatives. Despite the proliferation of such initiatives, the term “workplace diversity” is virtually never defined. Many attempts to define the term are often in circular or conclusive ways that do little to strengthen a collective understanding of this term. Mor-Barak (2011), takes a global perspective and defines workplace diversity as “the division of the workforce into categories that have perceived commonality within a given cultural or national context and that impact outcomes potentially harmful or beneficial employment opportunities such as job opportunities, workplace treatment and promotion prospects, regardless of job-related skills and qualifications." This definition offers a lot of leeway by not including specific examples of the distinguishing categories, thus leaving open the opportunity to include relevant categories that correspond to s...... middle of paper ... eat the attitudes of its employees and them work with colleagues. This should be incorporated into their assessments and reviews and any issues identified should be addressed promptly when delaying performance in the assessment. Such problems include an employee who delegates work only to specific individuals based on his or her race or an employee who ignores the ideas of some co-workers because of his or her age. However, a manager who identifies diversity issues should not take a confrontational approach when discussing the issues with an employee. A good approach would be to encourage the employee to work with colleagues of different generations and backgrounds. Initiating such interactions will encourage the employee to learn more about their goals, talents, and communication styles and how they compare or contrast with their own.