heeft 30 jaar ervaring weten samen te houden

English translation: has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

12:56 Oct 7, 2010

Dutch to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Dutch term or phrase: heeft 30 jaar ervaring weten samen te houden

I'm sure this is a daft question but I'm dithering over this phrase and running out of time fast. This is an interview with the two top men of investment company X about its 30-year history.

X behoort tot de Europese top 5 van technologie-investeerders.“Een belangrijke factor van dat succes is ons human capital. X **heeft 30 jaar ervaring weten samen te houden**. Mensen die successen hebben gekend, maar ook weten wat miserie is. Wanneer er een deal passeert, moet er een equipe klaarstaan, anders tel je niet mee.”

Does it have 30 years' experience "keeping together" knowledge, or has it managed to "hold together" experience for the past 30 years? In other words, what's the function of "weten" here? Neither of those interpretations sounds brilliant so any suggestions welcome!

MoiraB KudoZ activity Questions: 725 (none open) (1 without valid answers) (21 closed without grading) Answers: 545 France
Local time: 13:35

English translation:has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

Explanation:
has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-07 14:17:39 GMT)
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Ook niet echt de mooiste zin, maar het dekt wel de lading.

Selected response from:

Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:35

Grading comment

Thanks. This comes closest, I feel.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

Michael Beijer

4 +1

has managed to consolidate 30 years of experience.

Michael Beijer

has managed to hold on to 30 years of experience

Michael Beijer

3 -1

has managed to gather 30 years of experience

Iris Shalev

Discussion entries: 16

Arie Uittenbogaard

Netherlands

08:39 Oct 8, 2010

In the NL, some companies advertise with the total sum of years of experience of their workers (Bij elkaar 150 jaar ervaring!!), so I’m guessing that the 30 years mentioned here refer to Mr. X’s career. He’s managed to unite/ consolidate professional experience for thirty years.

Barend van Zadelhoff

Netherlands

I'm an addict :-)

15:13 Oct 7, 2010

Yes I am!

Iris Shalev

Israel

Yes, I do!

14:52 Oct 7, 2010

Great when you work alone the whole day..!

MoiraB

France

ASKER

@ Iris

14:48 Oct 7, 2010

Yes, I'm glad I asked now - there was a lot more to it than met the eye! Don't you just love this 'virtual office' brainstorming?

Iris Shalev

Israel

Michael's last option

14:30 Oct 7, 2010

would be the best, then... Not such a daft question, after all! :)

Barend van Zadelhoff

Netherlands

14:19 Oct 7, 2010

ja dat is inderdaad één van de twee dingen die hij zegt
maar hij zegt daarnaast dat hij 30 jaar ervaring van (bijna) al zijn personeelsleden in huis heeft

er is niets zo economisch als metaforisch taalgebruik

Michael Beijer

United Kingdom

Dus ...

14:14 Oct 7, 2010

"hij weet zijn personeel aan zich te binden"

MoiraB

France

ASKER

Clarification!

14:05 Oct 7, 2010

Client now tells me it should be interpreted as follows: "A lot of people have stayed with X since the early days. It means that few people have left."

MoiraB

France

ASKER

I don't think so

14:01 Oct 7, 2010

I'm not convinced "X has managed to keep staff with 30 years of experience together"? is the meaning here. These two guys are looking back at the **30-year** history of the company remember. Wouldn't that logically mean there was only one employee and s/he had 30 years' experience? ;-) At the moment I have "x has managed to retain a pool of experienced workers over the past 30 years". Still pondering....

Barend van Zadelhoff

Netherlands

13:49 Oct 7, 2010

"X has managed to keep staff with 30 years of experience together"?

This at least reflects the meaning IMO

Iris Shalev

Israel

Strange! :)

13:46 Oct 7, 2010

Well maybe a little funny, as Michael said! :)
OK, what about: "X has managed to keep staff with 30 years of experience together"?
Or: "X has managed to keep their staff together for 30 years now"?
Neither sounds ideal, though... Anyone else a better suggestion?

Barend van Zadelhoff

Netherlands

playful use of language

13:40 Oct 7, 2010

not strange :-)

"In that case, it might mean that all their staff taken together has 30 years of experience?"

I agree with that.

Iris Shalev

Israel

Could be...

13:36 Oct 7, 2010

I see what you mean! That is a possibility. In that case, it might mean that all their staff taken together has 30 years of experience? or that they have managed to keep the same staff working together for 30 years now? It still is a strange and unclear expression if you ask me...

Michael Beijer

United Kingdom

Very good point. I missed that.

13:35 Oct 7, 2010

How about something like: "retain"? "hij weet zijn personeel aan zich te binden" =
"he knows how to hold on to his staff" (VD)

Barend van Zadelhoff

Netherlands

13:34 Oct 7, 2010

IMO the speaker says that they have managed to keep together their workers, or the majority of them, for thirty years, but these workers ARE experience
actually he is saying two things at the same time, it is metaphorical language

MoiraB

France

ASKER

The only problem is...

13:26 Oct 7, 2010

...that Iris and Michael's suggestions don't link in well with the sentence that follows, so I'm wondering if the implied meaning is that for the past 30 years they've managed to keep the people who have the necessary experience. Also links in with the reference to human capital.

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

has managed to gather 30 years of experience

Explanation:
I think the source sentence isn't particularly well written - 'ervaring weten samen te houden' is in my opinion not a real expression! That's why I think it is simply a roundabout way to say that X has 30 years of experience, and how impressive this is.
I would translate 'weten' as 'manage' here.
Good luck!

Iris Shalev
Israel
Local time: 14:35
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Dutch
PRO pts in category: 4

18 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

heeft 30 jaar ervaring weten samen te houden. has managed to consolidate 30 years of experience.

Explanation:
The Dutch is slightly funny. You could try this.

Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:35
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 63

42 mins confidence:

has managed to hold on to 30 years of experience

Explanation:
Maybe something like this instead, although it sounds stuntelig.

Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:35
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 63

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:35
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 63

Grading comment

Thanks. This comes closest, I feel.

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English translation: has managed to hold on to experienced staff for (over) 30 years

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