Introduction: This study aimed to identify and explain factors influencing talent management in Iranian public organizations and determine their hierarchical positions and driving–dependence patterns.
Methods: This applied, exploratory study comprised two stages. First, thematic analysis of 15 semi-structured interviews yielded 131 initial codes, organized into 40 factors: 20 intra-organizational, eight extra-organizational, and 12 individual. Second, pairwise judgments from ten experts were analyzed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC. Results: The factors formed seven hierarchical levels. The foundational seventh level included external factors such as labor supply, labor regulations, political and cultural conditions, and technological development. Leadership and management style, organizational strategy, and risk management appeared at level six, while organizational culture and justice appeared at level five. Talent attraction, retention, development, and deployment occupied level one, the most dependent level in the hierarchy. MICMAC classified 16 mainly institutional and managerial factors as independent/driving, 12 talent-management process factors as dependent, and 12 mainly individual factors as autonomous; no factors fell into the linkage cluster. Level assignments remained unchanged across expert-agreement thresholds of 60%–90%.
Conclusion: In this expert-informed structure, environmental conditions and managerial mechanisms occupy foundational and influential positions, whereas operational talent-management processes are more dependent on preceding structural levels. The findings may help identify prerequisites for developing talent-management systems in public organizations.