If you want a culture of givers the most important thing is in fact to screen out takers

I don't know how robust this fellow's research is but it comports with my experience. Nice Guys Finish First by Seth Stevenson.
Here is the general assumption.

We often assume that the people most likely to zoom ahead within organizations are the ruthless, pragmatic types who are all about No. 1: People always looking for ways to benefit themselves. “Operators” who try to derive maximum gain from every workplace transaction.

But here is the construct the researcher Adam Grant sees.

Grant divides the typical workplace into three types of people: takers, matchers, and givers. Takers are those selfish folks who always have a sharky angle and forever put their personal interests ahead of everybody else’s. Matchers (the bulk of us) view the world in terms of fairness and balanced ledgers—I scratch your back, with the unstated but firm understanding that at some point you will scratch mine. Givers, by contrast, perform all sorts of selfless acts with no expectation of reciprocity. They tirelessly pitch in for their colleagues, eagerly mentor their underlings, and regularly prioritize other people’s needs above their own.

You might guess that givers—while lovely people—lack the sharp elbows required to get ahead in corporate America. And, to some extent, you’re right. Grant acknowledges that studies reveal many givers tend to linger at the bottom of the food chain, with low promotion and productivity rates. They fail to excel because they’re too busy helping other people do just that.

But though they’re overrepresented at the bottom, Grant’s most interesting finding is that givers also climb to the top. You’ll find givers massed at the two ends of the spectrum, with takers and matchers in the middle.

Why is this? Grant suggests that takers may temporarily succeed, but once found out they pay a hefty price. Most people are in fact eager to punish folks they perceive as takers: Studies show that we’ll choose to sacrifice our own gains if it means seeing justice meted out to someone we deem piggy.

Matchers don’t suffer in this way as a result of their attitudes. But they also don’t benefit. As Grant has written, “matchers often leave a transactional impression, as if they’re always keeping score.” We know where we stand with matchers, and for the most part we respect their moral code, but we grant them no particular credit for their behavior.

Meanwhile, givers construct valuable networks out of all the grateful colleagues who correctly perceive them as selfless and agenda-less. Givers share credit without demanding any in return, which spurs co-workers to flock to their projects. Their generosity earns them deep and lasting respect, which translates into potency. When a taker suggests an idea, others are naturally skeptical—what’s in it for her? But when a known giver has a notion, people are willing to get on board out of a sense that it must come from a place of genuine good will. What’s more, Grant argues, givers’ justified sense that they are contributing to a greater good helps keep them motivated and fulfilled in their work, which in turn improves their output.

This is an interesting observation.

A workplace full of givers is, in Grant’s view, an ideal scenario. An environment where people are motivated to help will actually enhance their own effectiveness. When I asked Grant how managers might encourage a culture of giving, he told me the first step is, not surprisingly, careful hiring.

“Most people think you should try to hire givers,” says Grant, “but the data suggests that if you want a culture of givers the most important thing is in fact to screen out takers. The negative impact of a taker is double or triple the positive impact of a giver. With one taker on a team, you begin to notice that paranoia spreads and people hold back out of fear that they'll be exploited.” And how do you spot a taker? “The main sign that someone’s a taker is kissing up and kicking down. Takers are good fakers when they’re dealing with powerful people, but it's a lot of work to pretend to care about everyone so, selectively, they'll let their guard down. Another telltale sign is taking a lot of credit for successes, and blaming other people for failures. Givers are more likely to take responsibility for failures.”