1. Introduce yourself by focusing on the skills you bring to the table rather than how many years you’ve been at the company.
2. Refrain from using generational terms like Millennial, Gen Z, Gen X, or Boomer to refer to individuals or groups because these terms are loaded with assumptions, stereotypes, and negative connotations.
3. Make a concerted effort to reach out to get to know team members with different experiences and recognize everyone has a valuable perspective to share.
4. Try to include employees of all ages and experience levels in brainstorms and projects, and set the expectation that the best ideas will be the ones that rise to the top, rather than just the ideas of those with the loudest voice or the most tenure.
5. Stop making hiring decisions based on the age of the applicant because people of all ages can enter the workplace at ALL levels.
6. Advocate to make ageism part of DEI education companywide, and address it as we’re working on breaking down the other -isms within our cultures.
7. Create ageism ERGs, with representatives from all ages and experience levels represented, so that additional training and learning opportunities, company policies, and team practices can be informed with perspectives from across the spectrum.