I don't think I know anyone who uses distance to threshold as the main input for descent planning, it would ruin the required continuous descents at many of our airports. Yet it is a potent tool to maintain situational awareness i.e. what if ATC suddenly clears us for a short approach, can we make it? So precisely in those situations of long bases, long downwinds or trombone arrivals, it can be handy to know the physical distance to the threshold. Also on some non-precision approaches that are not programmed all the way to the threshold it might be the only easy distance reference you have to the actual runway!
If you find your colleagues being low on the initial approach, ask them why they prefer to ignore the jojo on that occasion. They might come up with a very plausible answer.