Keep talent in the pipeline at all times so you can staff up quickly if there's an influx of new orders, says Jana Matthews, a Boulder, Colo.-based management consultant. Slovick relies on a national network of recruiters who are constantly looking for candidates. Almost one-third of PriceSpective's employees have Ph.D.s in scientific fields, and they are hard to find. Slovick knows that business could pick up at any moment. The Philadelphia freeze, for example, ended after just two months.

One thing to keep in mind, says Matthews: When you interview candidates during a freeze, give them an idea of when you will be making decisions. That way, if the candidates don't hear from you, they won't assume they have been ruled out.