À chaque fois l’impact sur les performances de chacun n’est pas neutre.

English translation: whenever [that sort of situation arises], it never fails to affect each person's performance

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:à chaque fois l’impact sur les performances de chacun n’est pas neutre.
English translation:whenever [that sort of situation arises], it never fails to affect each person's performance
Entered by: Tony M

21:38 Mar 2, 2018
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2018-03-06 18:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - Marketing / Market Research
French term or phrase: À chaque fois l’impact sur les performances de chacun n’est pas neutre.
It is the way the phrase is put that I am finding challenging. Any suggestions regarding the point that is being made would be greatly appreciated.

This is a type of leadership guide for the work environment (so performance is work performance).

Thank you
cible
Canada
Local time: 14:55
each time, the impact on each person's performance is not neutral
Explanation:
Best i can do without more context.

They seem to be saying that each time "this thing" happens, it has an effect on each person's (everybody's?) performance, which may presumably be either a negative or a positive effect, but in any event, not neutral.

I don't really see what the problem is, but perhaps I have answered the crux of your question; if not, then at least it is a starting point for further discussion.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 heures (2018-03-03 16:13:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

OK, that VITAL extra context makes all the difference!

So 'à chaque fois' refers to 'that situation':

"Whenever that sort of situation arises, ..."

"...it never fails to affect each person's performance" — presumably referring to those who like / dislike the boss!
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:55
Grading comment
Thanks Tony. I really appreciate the feedback, and yes I can see where the additional context helped (I'll do better next time) :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3each time, the impact on each person's performance is not neutral
Tony M
3 -2in every instance, the impact on each worker's performance is positive
Barbara Cochran, MFA


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


53 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
in every instance, the impact on each worker's performance is positive


Explanation:
I suggest you get rid of the negative in this instance.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: It amounts to gross over-translation to imply that "not neutral" necessarily means "positive". / LOL!
16 mins
  -> Sorry, but I researched the term "neutral", so "positive" is exactly what is meant here, and I now see that you referred to that yourself in your comments to the asker.

disagree  philgoddard: Elementary logic, lesson 1. A state can be positive, neutral, negative, or anywhere in between.
55 mins

neutral  ph-b (X): May I point out as a native speaker that in some circumstances - perhaps not here indeed - n'est pas neutre could be a roundabout/polite way of saying est négatif. Like an understatement, if you want.
10 hrs

neutral  writeaway: @ph-b: do you mean the same idea as 'n'est pas terrible'?
12 hrs
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
each time, the impact on each person's performance is not neutral


Explanation:
Best i can do without more context.

They seem to be saying that each time "this thing" happens, it has an effect on each person's (everybody's?) performance, which may presumably be either a negative or a positive effect, but in any event, not neutral.

I don't really see what the problem is, but perhaps I have answered the crux of your question; if not, then at least it is a starting point for further discussion.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 heures (2018-03-03 16:13:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

OK, that VITAL extra context makes all the difference!

So 'à chaque fois' refers to 'that situation':

"Whenever that sort of situation arises, ..."

"...it never fails to affect each person's performance" — presumably referring to those who like / dislike the boss!

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:55
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 134
Grading comment
Thanks Tony. I really appreciate the feedback, and yes I can see where the additional context helped (I'll do better next time) :)
Notes to answerer
Asker: The context is really about learning better management techniques to use in the workplace with coworkers. As for A chaque fois, I really can't say what it is referring to other than maybe every time interactions between coworkers takes place.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Barbara Cochran, MFA: Far too literal to make much sense in English, esp. given the context.
22 mins
  -> It is deliberately literal to help Asker understand the wording; after that, with more context, it can be refined.

agree  philgoddard: Yes, this makes perfect sense, though it may need to be tweaked to fit the context.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Phil! Yes, it seemed Asker was having trouble unravelling the sentence; after that, can't do better without context!

agree  ph-b (X): Surely the best one can come up with if we want to help the asker without more context.
10 hrs
  -> Merci, ph-b ! Yes, I think what's needed here is basically understanding, not "creative writing" ;-)

agree  writeaway: 100% literal but if it works, why not. especially without additional context. Unless ph-b is on to something (see comment below), in which case this becomes a contresens. So it's in Asker's interest to chime in with more context.
10 hrs
  -> Thanks, W/A! Exaclty: I thought Asker was asking for a literal explaantion — and guessing at missing context amounts to over-translation. I don't think even ph-b's interpretation (that I'd thought of too) would make this a contre-sens; just too literal!

agree  Jennifer White: Yes, agree now with your added note.
18 hrs
  -> Thanks, Jennifer!
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