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The generation a person was born into does not actually reveal anything about how to manage them in a workplace or their ability to retire comfortably, according to a pair of new studies.

Instead of stereotyping or generalizing workers because they were born in the baby boomer or millennial generations, employers need to pay individualized attention to those workers' needs, says a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

"Much of the research that's been done to date on the differences between 'Gen Z' or 'boomers' in the workplace has serious limitations, and can mislead employers about what their workers actually need," said Nancy Tippins, a consultant who chaired the committee that wrote the academies' report, in a press release.