Family leadership, family involvement and mutuality HRM practices in family SMEs

•Mutuality HRM practices mediate family leadership and involvement in fostering employee productivity in family SMEs.•The adoption of mutuality HRM practices is an expression of family stewardship towards the organization.•Mutuality HRM practices can help to explain the relationship between HRM and organizational performance in family SMEs. In the present study we argue that a more fine-grained perspective, taking into account different situations of family members’ involvement and the actual implementation of HRM practices and policies, is needed to provide an accurate picture of family firms as employers. Our study is carried out on a unique sample of 849 family firms in Italy and focuses on the conditions and consequences of adopting mutuality-promoting HRM practices in the family business context.