Top Women Profile: LP Building Solution's Robin Everhart
Robin Everhart joined LP Building Solutions (Louisiana-Pacific Corporation) in 2019 when the company was undergoing a transformation from a traditional building products company to a technology-driven building solutions provider.
In her role as LP’s senior vice president, chief human resources and transformation officer, Everhart has been responsible for leading LP’s global people strategy while driving organizational effectiveness and transformational change to create a high-performance business culture. The senior vice president also leads leadership development, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), employee education, corporate communications, and benefits among other roles at the building solutions provider.
“DEI has become a ‘buzz’ term for so many companies, but it’s truly our belief that improving those areas of our business will be a cornerstone of LP’s future success and growth,” Everhart told HBSDealer.
Prior to joining LP, Everhart served in leadership roles at Cintas, Winn-Dixie Stores and The Home Depot. Today, she says she is most proud of creating better connective tissue between people and performance at LP.
“The business transformation strategy was in place, but any strategy requires employee buy-in for it to be effective,” Everhart explains. “People need to feel like they have a stake in the business to drive performance.”
To do this, LP created a performance framework — Think and Act Like Owners— as a driving motivator to improve productivity, hold employees accountable, and instill confidence and pride in the company.
"Empowering our team with ownership encourages all of us to stay curious, show up authentically and have a bias for action,” she said.
As co-executive sponsor of LP’s DEI Task Force, Everhart worked alongside LP’s Chair and CEO Brad Southern and the task force members to create LP’s DEI Pledge for Action and associated action plans.
The Nashville, Tenn.-based company wanted to ensure that every voice was heard while creating a happy, working environment.
“With our pledge and plans complete, we’re now partnering across the organization to lead the execution of DEI plans,” Everheart says. “An inclusive environment where all employees are welcome, want to work, want to stay, and want to recommend as a good place to work is critical to success, especially in today’s labor market.”
Transformation at LP has not been without hurdles. In addition to competition for labor, the company works to ensure that there is an increase in talent pools and representation, to keep up with market demands, and to move forward when it comes to innovation.
“As an individual, I’ve certainly faced challenges and bouts of impostor syndrome while often being one, if not the only, female in leadership,” Everhart notes. “If anyone tells you they haven’t experienced this, they are lying. The best advice I can give is to remember that you’re the best version of yourself out there. You have a better chance of being truly successful when you embrace your own authentic qualities and strengths versus emulating someone else’s.”
Everhart is also passionate about cultivating future generations of leaders and community development. She assists area nonprofits with pro bono mentoring and support on HR challenges and DEI initiatives, along with serving with the Executive Strategic Alliance Advisory and the Land Trust for Tennessee Board of Directors. She also volunteers at the local chapters of Habitat for Humanity and Urban League.
Looking ahead at LP, she says she wants the company’s approach to DEI to continue evolving while creating an environment of inclusivity where every employee feels like they are a valued member of the team and company’s success.
“Everyone deserves good role models,” she says. “And I’d like to establish a workforce where every employee has that person they can look up to."
