In the United States in the last few years there has developed a notion of “strategic human resource management” (HRM). As with other high‐sounding phrases in the management of people, first reactions are likely to divide between “let's have some of it” to “it won't work here”, with the latter possibly predominating. Where American pragmatism inclines towards trying new things to see if they work, British pragmatism tends to mean sticking with the actual and the evidently possible. Nevertheless, reviewing ideas which run ahead of practice can, on occasion, be useful in suggesting new possibilities. This article will review the implications of “strategic HRM” and ask whether it has any relevance to some of the issues which currently exercise personnel managers in the UK — notably, decentralising the personnel function and increasing workforce flexibility.